I know that I originally planned to re-launch this blog and Tongues in Jars for December, but recently my time has been short. I'll spare you the regular spiel about working three jobs and planning to move out and etc., etc. The shortest possible version is that I just haven't really figured out exactly what I want to do with A Glass Darkly going forward.
Now, I'm still going to blog (as is plain in my resuming regular updates at Tongues in Jars).
However, the big difference between my blogging in the future and my blogging in the past is that I'm only going to dedicate 1/4 of my writing time and energy to blogging. The other 3/4 are going to my novels, short stories, and poetry. Nonetheless, I want to keep updating these blog regularly. The best way to do this, as far as I've been able to figure, is to simply write more fluid entries.
So, rather than sitting down, planning out, strenuously editing and drafting each blog entry, from now on my entries will be shorter. Ultimately, the purpose of these blogs is to publicly indulge my hobbies, and to give you all a way to get to know me and what to expect from my writing. My blog entries will still have the usual polish, though the fiction and poetry I post here will still be drafts and thus a little unpolished. Think of them as the sketches that artists might post on their sites.
The new year's also going to bring some changes to A Glass Darkly's design and, possibly, name. I'll still post creative writing on Mondays, editorials will return on Wednesdays, and reviews will go up on Fridays. These reviews will mostly be of books, but there'll still be some movie reviews sprinkled in for good measure. But, these entries won't necessarily be regular.
Along with these irregular entries, the plan right now is to post thought pieces based on what I'm playing and reading every day. I've got a crazy book/video game backlog, and so there's plenty of fodder for free-writing. The difference between these entries and Wednesday's editorials will be that the former will be free-flowing wanderings with words, while the latter will usually be more concentrated mini-essays that try to make a point.
So, now that all that's out there - what about the rest of December? Well, for now all I can say is that I don't expect to get much up and running here. I might do one final movie review, either of a bad Christmas movie or of the famous flop Ishtar, but doing either seems unlikely. Instead, I can say for sure that Tongues in Jars will keep getting updated on a weekly basis, and I'll be publishing an article over on examiner.com every week as well.
So, watch this space, gentle reader, and something will appear!
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Showing posts with label editorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label editorial. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
[Wōdnes-dæg] On Education, Work, and Passion
Introduction
Troubled Times for Work
Closing
Back To Top
Introduction
Today's editorial isn't based on any one article so much as it is on experience and general reading.
Back To Top
Troubled Times for Work
Those currently in their 20s are media darlings, in their own strange way. No, we aren't all starring in a hip new TV show or sporting roles as extras in an upcoming movie of tremendous importance. Instead, we're bucking the trend that's been accepted and unquestioned practice in the Western world for centuries.
Many of us who have taken the road of education to get where we are are not quite where we expected ourselves to be. We're living with our parents and/or working a job that doesn't require our university or college-acquired knowledge possibly to pay off debt incurred by that education. If you're in your 20s, chances are, at least one of those is true for you - possibly even all three are.
Reading through articles found on my own and passed onto me by friends and family, it seems that society as a whole is quite disturbed by this. Post-secondary-educated youth living with their parents into their late 20s? Humanities majors and masters serving coffee and waiting tables? Massive debt holding the youth back? The second question may not be anything new, but it's still mentioned consistently enough.
Yet, as direly scarce as fitting employment may be and as impossible as the prospects of following the old "high-school --> post-secondary --> work" life model appear, this doesn't necessarily mean that society is in crisis. Rather, it's in the middle of an opportunity.
As difficult as it can be to stride through debt, go back to living with your parents, or to work a job that you could've been hired for fresh out of high school, the old life model's being disrupted gives those of us in these situations the chance to do something different. It gives us all a chance to step back and to really ask what we want to do with ourselves and what we need to do in order to get there.
The economy is still stabilizing, and the job market is as rocky as ever. But passion is as important as ever, and it's something that can be started anywhere, even if you're not working in the safe and secure 9-5 style job that the old life model dictates. It's strange, and it can be frightening, but we've gone off model and it's for the better.
Back To Top
Closing
Check back here on Friday for a journey amidst ribald jokes looking for gems in Your Highness.
And, in the meantime, be sure to check out my video game writing here.
Back To Top
Troubled Times for Work
Closing
Back To Top
Introduction
Today's editorial isn't based on any one article so much as it is on experience and general reading.
Back To Top
Troubled Times for Work
Those currently in their 20s are media darlings, in their own strange way. No, we aren't all starring in a hip new TV show or sporting roles as extras in an upcoming movie of tremendous importance. Instead, we're bucking the trend that's been accepted and unquestioned practice in the Western world for centuries.
Many of us who have taken the road of education to get where we are are not quite where we expected ourselves to be. We're living with our parents and/or working a job that doesn't require our university or college-acquired knowledge possibly to pay off debt incurred by that education. If you're in your 20s, chances are, at least one of those is true for you - possibly even all three are.
Reading through articles found on my own and passed onto me by friends and family, it seems that society as a whole is quite disturbed by this. Post-secondary-educated youth living with their parents into their late 20s? Humanities majors and masters serving coffee and waiting tables? Massive debt holding the youth back? The second question may not be anything new, but it's still mentioned consistently enough.
Yet, as direly scarce as fitting employment may be and as impossible as the prospects of following the old "high-school --> post-secondary --> work" life model appear, this doesn't necessarily mean that society is in crisis. Rather, it's in the middle of an opportunity.
As difficult as it can be to stride through debt, go back to living with your parents, or to work a job that you could've been hired for fresh out of high school, the old life model's being disrupted gives those of us in these situations the chance to do something different. It gives us all a chance to step back and to really ask what we want to do with ourselves and what we need to do in order to get there.
The economy is still stabilizing, and the job market is as rocky as ever. But passion is as important as ever, and it's something that can be started anywhere, even if you're not working in the safe and secure 9-5 style job that the old life model dictates. It's strange, and it can be frightening, but we've gone off model and it's for the better.
Back To Top
Closing
Check back here on Friday for a journey amidst ribald jokes looking for gems in Your Highness.
And, in the meantime, be sure to check out my video game writing here.
Back To Top
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
[Wōdnes-dæg] Plagiarism
Introduction
The Article Summed Up
Plagiarism: A Personal History
Root Causes
Plagiarism: A Crime Against Language
Closing
Back To Top
Introduction
Perusing the day's Globe and Mail, I came across two stories that would work rather well as editorial fodder.
The first was an interview with Robin Pollock, A Torontonian currently at the Scrabble Championships in Florida. This one gave a good sense of what it took to be a champion (or just serious) Scrabble player, and would have been praised as a sign of the status of the wordsmiths among us: Not a story grand enough for the front page, but at least news-section worthy.
Delving deeper into the paper, however, I found an article that struck much deeper than anything about a board game could. I found an article in the Arts section about Fareed Zakaria and the controversy swirling around him because of the discovery of his plagiarism.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
The article begins by relating how a blogger discovered that a large part of his recent article on gun control for Time magazine was poached from an earlier piece written by Jill Lepore and published in The New Yorker. It then goes on to show how Zakaria apologized to some of those he wronged, has been put on suspension for a month by CNN and The Washington Post, and how, despite everything swirling around him, he seems to be feeling less guilty than expected.
After relating this instance of a professional plagiarising another's work, Houpt moves onto other cases of professionals plagiarizing before finishing with the hypothesis that journalists (and writers) are spreading themselves so thin that plagiarism is to be expected. Houpt cites Zakaria's own hectic schedule over the past few months in his defense and also notes how many major journalists don't always write everything that's attributed to them.
Back To Top
Plagiarism: A Personal History
All of this gives me, a young up-and-coming writer, pause - especially because of my academic background. Through all six years of my university studies plagiarism was constantly watched for, checked for, double-checked for, and avoided. All necessary citations were made as accurately as possible, and all sources that were used were included in bibliographies at the ends of papers.
Perhaps this extreme prudence came from being constantly warned about plagiarism in opening classes, in course outlines, and through email notifications. Or perhaps it came from being accused twice before.
Once it happened in elementary school where, being a little lazy and full of A's, a large section of a resource was poached to speed a project up. Then, once more I was accused in high school where the advanced argument and style of an essay made a teacher wary, though all evidence - and most importantly, the truth - were on my side.
Of course, in the former case, being guilty, I lost marks, but in the latter case I received an ever-after unthinkable 100% (on an English paper, no less).
Whatever the case in my own history, if journalists are spreading themselves thin and basically backing themselves into corners where they have no choice but to plagiarize to keep things running smoothly, then a few things might be to blame. There are the personal things - greed, audience pressure, the feeling/desire to just do more - and the matter of writers' pay.
Back To Top
Root Causes
The first of these issues can be dealt with easily enough on paper. Though restraint is much more difficult to put into true practice. Simply put, though, if you're a writer and seem to be trapped in a position where you have no choice but to plagiarize to meet deadlines or to keep a blog afloat, then just ask if anything can be ended. After Zakaria's month-long suspension is over his plagiarism will probably be largely forgotten by most of the public, but this isn't something that every writer will be able to weather.
The other issue is more systemic, and less personal, but still a major concern. Anyone can write, but to write things that show up in newspapers, that show up on reputable websites, or in magazines or books, writers need training.
To become a journalist you need to know how to write, but you also need to know about things like the impact that story can have on those involved or readers in general; you need to know about how best to approach topics and subjects; and you need to know about the ethics related to the profession. It's no different with fiction, or with poetry. And those with all this training (or awareness/skill) should be properly paid.
To write for yourself is one thing, but to write for other people - in most cases, people you don't even know, and may never know - is completely different. You need to know how to write so that you can interest people, you need to know how to convey emotion by showing it to a reader rather than telling him/her about it. And you need to be able to put words together in such a way that people can enjoy reading what you write for potentially long stretches.
Back To Top
Plagiarism: A Crime Against Language
Setting aside all personal and industry issues, the fact that plagiarism exists makes little sense.
English is a puny language in comparison to many others (Greek and Latin come to mind - after all, on the dance floor an Ancient Roman could just say crisa rather than "shake it!").
Yet, it's the magic of language to take a finite set of things and put them into a near infinite set of connections and orders, even to get across the same meaning. Some people call a writer's own way of putting words together to get across a meaning that another writer has already conveyed "style." Maybe that's part of the problem.
Outside of fiction and poetry, writing can sometimes drone. There are some journalists with unique voices, but more often than not the sort of thing that you'll read in a major magazine is hardly distinguishable from anything else in the same publication. By and large non-fiction writers, fiction writers, and poets have more unique voices than your standard reporter or news writer.
In part, this monotony in journalism comes from newspapers and news shows and magazines requiring a standardized tone - often authoritative - and it can be hard to maintain that tone if everyone is writing in their own unique style. The internet has helped to give people a platform to show off their own voices in their writing, but one of the trade-offs so far is the loss of that authoritative tone in a lot of what's posted online.
Back To Top
Closing
Check back here tomorrow for another Annotated Links, and don't miss Friday's delve for the deserving in Squirm.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
Plagiarism: A Personal History
Root Causes
Plagiarism: A Crime Against Language
Closing
 |
Back To Top
Introduction
Perusing the day's Globe and Mail, I came across two stories that would work rather well as editorial fodder.
The first was an interview with Robin Pollock, A Torontonian currently at the Scrabble Championships in Florida. This one gave a good sense of what it took to be a champion (or just serious) Scrabble player, and would have been praised as a sign of the status of the wordsmiths among us: Not a story grand enough for the front page, but at least news-section worthy.
Delving deeper into the paper, however, I found an article that struck much deeper than anything about a board game could. I found an article in the Arts section about Fareed Zakaria and the controversy swirling around him because of the discovery of his plagiarism.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
The article begins by relating how a blogger discovered that a large part of his recent article on gun control for Time magazine was poached from an earlier piece written by Jill Lepore and published in The New Yorker. It then goes on to show how Zakaria apologized to some of those he wronged, has been put on suspension for a month by CNN and The Washington Post, and how, despite everything swirling around him, he seems to be feeling less guilty than expected.
After relating this instance of a professional plagiarising another's work, Houpt moves onto other cases of professionals plagiarizing before finishing with the hypothesis that journalists (and writers) are spreading themselves so thin that plagiarism is to be expected. Houpt cites Zakaria's own hectic schedule over the past few months in his defense and also notes how many major journalists don't always write everything that's attributed to them.
Back To Top
Plagiarism: A Personal History
All of this gives me, a young up-and-coming writer, pause - especially because of my academic background. Through all six years of my university studies plagiarism was constantly watched for, checked for, double-checked for, and avoided. All necessary citations were made as accurately as possible, and all sources that were used were included in bibliographies at the ends of papers.
Perhaps this extreme prudence came from being constantly warned about plagiarism in opening classes, in course outlines, and through email notifications. Or perhaps it came from being accused twice before.
Once it happened in elementary school where, being a little lazy and full of A's, a large section of a resource was poached to speed a project up. Then, once more I was accused in high school where the advanced argument and style of an essay made a teacher wary, though all evidence - and most importantly, the truth - were on my side.
Of course, in the former case, being guilty, I lost marks, but in the latter case I received an ever-after unthinkable 100% (on an English paper, no less).
Whatever the case in my own history, if journalists are spreading themselves thin and basically backing themselves into corners where they have no choice but to plagiarize to keep things running smoothly, then a few things might be to blame. There are the personal things - greed, audience pressure, the feeling/desire to just do more - and the matter of writers' pay.
Back To Top
Root Causes
The first of these issues can be dealt with easily enough on paper. Though restraint is much more difficult to put into true practice. Simply put, though, if you're a writer and seem to be trapped in a position where you have no choice but to plagiarize to meet deadlines or to keep a blog afloat, then just ask if anything can be ended. After Zakaria's month-long suspension is over his plagiarism will probably be largely forgotten by most of the public, but this isn't something that every writer will be able to weather.
The other issue is more systemic, and less personal, but still a major concern. Anyone can write, but to write things that show up in newspapers, that show up on reputable websites, or in magazines or books, writers need training.
To become a journalist you need to know how to write, but you also need to know about things like the impact that story can have on those involved or readers in general; you need to know about how best to approach topics and subjects; and you need to know about the ethics related to the profession. It's no different with fiction, or with poetry. And those with all this training (or awareness/skill) should be properly paid.
To write for yourself is one thing, but to write for other people - in most cases, people you don't even know, and may never know - is completely different. You need to know how to write so that you can interest people, you need to know how to convey emotion by showing it to a reader rather than telling him/her about it. And you need to be able to put words together in such a way that people can enjoy reading what you write for potentially long stretches.
Back To Top
Plagiarism: A Crime Against Language
Setting aside all personal and industry issues, the fact that plagiarism exists makes little sense.
English is a puny language in comparison to many others (Greek and Latin come to mind - after all, on the dance floor an Ancient Roman could just say crisa rather than "shake it!").
Yet, it's the magic of language to take a finite set of things and put them into a near infinite set of connections and orders, even to get across the same meaning. Some people call a writer's own way of putting words together to get across a meaning that another writer has already conveyed "style." Maybe that's part of the problem.
Outside of fiction and poetry, writing can sometimes drone. There are some journalists with unique voices, but more often than not the sort of thing that you'll read in a major magazine is hardly distinguishable from anything else in the same publication. By and large non-fiction writers, fiction writers, and poets have more unique voices than your standard reporter or news writer.
In part, this monotony in journalism comes from newspapers and news shows and magazines requiring a standardized tone - often authoritative - and it can be hard to maintain that tone if everyone is writing in their own unique style. The internet has helped to give people a platform to show off their own voices in their writing, but one of the trade-offs so far is the loss of that authoritative tone in a lot of what's posted online.
Back To Top
Closing
Check back here tomorrow for another Annotated Links, and don't miss Friday's delve for the deserving in Squirm.
Back To Top
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
[Wōdnes-dæg] Book Covers or Ebook Reviews?
Introduction
The Article Summed Up
Covers, Reviews, Impressions
Undercutting and Supporting
Closing
Back To Top
Introduction
Although hardcopy books might seem to be disappearing from the lives of many as more and more people get ereaders, the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" still has some currency. Yet, as books make the transition from paper to screen, their covers could become a thing of the past.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
An article from NPR Books came to my attention through a Google Alert of mine.
The article posits that, in the past, books could sell based on their covers alone, while now ebooks aren't bought because of covers, but because word of them gets around or people read reviews.
However, Chip Kidd, an associate art director with Alfred A. Knopf, has no fear for the future of book covers. Kidd's theory is that hardcover books, the focus of his work, have always been luxury items, and that they will endure as such in spite of publishing's ongoing transition into the digital world.
Included with the article is a short recording that summarizes and expands upon it.
Back To Top
Covers, Reviews, Impressions
As much as reviews or mentions by friends might help to make books attractive to online readers, covers can really make or break a book.
Even if you've seen a book a few times, a really powerful cover can grab your attention with every pass. And as much as a review can help you to make an informed decision about a book, a book that's bought because of a review is a book bought based on reason rather than instinct. A book's cover can evoke a more visceral response, which can lead to stronger feelings both during and after reading it.
In fact, buying a book based on it's cover (along with a quick peek inside, perhaps) can make the experience of reading that book more enjoyable.
Instead of knowing what to expect from a writer's style, a book's story, or it's characters as you might after reading a review, peeking at a book's cover and blurb gives you a more nebulous impression of a book. The difference is like that between the impression a person whom you're meeting for the first time but have heard about before and the impression that someone completely new to you leaves.
Maybe you don't remember the book's title after an initial encounter, just as you might not remember a person's name, but if a cover and a peek at the text leave any impression at all you've just formed something that reading that book (once you get around to that) can cause to grow and change with more fluidity than a first impression from a review or word of mouth.
Now, the same could be argued about word of mouth or a review. These things also leave you with a first impression of a book comparable to that which you're left with after meeting someone for the first time. But the major difference is that in this situation your first impression isn't really your own. Instead, it's pre-formed based on what you've been told or read.
Back To Top
Undercutting and Supporting
Of course, it could be argued that this talk of varying extents of first impressions (first and second hand) and the effects that they have on your perceptions of a book is just splitting hairs. This is a valid argument, though, and now my English degrees might be showing through, having first impressions that are entirely your own - and therefore based on a cover rather than a review or word of mouth - will lead to a richer personal experience of the book.
But perhaps the extra personal element that covers bring to books, just as their durability, is something that makes hard-copy, hard-cover books luxury items.
In a world that's constantly socializing the individualized experience of seeing an entrancing cover and knowing you must buy that book might just become another selling point for books that are read off of paper rather than a screen.
Back To Top
Closing
Tomorrow's Annotated Links will carry today's literary focus forward, while Friday's search for the salvageable in Alien Apocalypse may take a different turn. Be sure to check back here to find out!
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
Covers, Reviews, Impressions
Undercutting and Supporting
Closing
 |
Back To Top
Introduction
Although hardcopy books might seem to be disappearing from the lives of many as more and more people get ereaders, the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" still has some currency. Yet, as books make the transition from paper to screen, their covers could become a thing of the past.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
An article from NPR Books came to my attention through a Google Alert of mine.
The article posits that, in the past, books could sell based on their covers alone, while now ebooks aren't bought because of covers, but because word of them gets around or people read reviews.
However, Chip Kidd, an associate art director with Alfred A. Knopf, has no fear for the future of book covers. Kidd's theory is that hardcover books, the focus of his work, have always been luxury items, and that they will endure as such in spite of publishing's ongoing transition into the digital world.
Included with the article is a short recording that summarizes and expands upon it.
Back To Top
Covers, Reviews, Impressions
As much as reviews or mentions by friends might help to make books attractive to online readers, covers can really make or break a book.
Even if you've seen a book a few times, a really powerful cover can grab your attention with every pass. And as much as a review can help you to make an informed decision about a book, a book that's bought because of a review is a book bought based on reason rather than instinct. A book's cover can evoke a more visceral response, which can lead to stronger feelings both during and after reading it.
In fact, buying a book based on it's cover (along with a quick peek inside, perhaps) can make the experience of reading that book more enjoyable.
Instead of knowing what to expect from a writer's style, a book's story, or it's characters as you might after reading a review, peeking at a book's cover and blurb gives you a more nebulous impression of a book. The difference is like that between the impression a person whom you're meeting for the first time but have heard about before and the impression that someone completely new to you leaves.
Maybe you don't remember the book's title after an initial encounter, just as you might not remember a person's name, but if a cover and a peek at the text leave any impression at all you've just formed something that reading that book (once you get around to that) can cause to grow and change with more fluidity than a first impression from a review or word of mouth.
Now, the same could be argued about word of mouth or a review. These things also leave you with a first impression of a book comparable to that which you're left with after meeting someone for the first time. But the major difference is that in this situation your first impression isn't really your own. Instead, it's pre-formed based on what you've been told or read.
Back To Top
Undercutting and Supporting
Of course, it could be argued that this talk of varying extents of first impressions (first and second hand) and the effects that they have on your perceptions of a book is just splitting hairs. This is a valid argument, though, and now my English degrees might be showing through, having first impressions that are entirely your own - and therefore based on a cover rather than a review or word of mouth - will lead to a richer personal experience of the book.
But perhaps the extra personal element that covers bring to books, just as their durability, is something that makes hard-copy, hard-cover books luxury items.
In a world that's constantly socializing the individualized experience of seeing an entrancing cover and knowing you must buy that book might just become another selling point for books that are read off of paper rather than a screen.
Back To Top
Closing
Tomorrow's Annotated Links will carry today's literary focus forward, while Friday's search for the salvageable in Alien Apocalypse may take a different turn. Be sure to check back here to find out!
Back To Top
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
[Wōdnes-dæg] A Well Placed Documentary Makes Science Fiction Science Fact
Introduction
The Article Summed Up
Not New, But Great
Publishing's Next Stage and Mainstream Acknowledgement
Closing
Back To Top
Introduction
This past Sunday, the Discovery Channel aired a documentary that has stirred up controversy. The program in question is called "Mermaids: The Body Found," a work of science fiction in the form of a documentary.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
The article (from The Christian Post) gives an overview of the controversy and sums it up by stating that the documentary's description and creators said that it is "based on some real life events." Whether or not this is a case of misdirection is not made clear.
Making things even more provocative, the article ends with some statements from the Discovery Channel that present logical arguments for the possibility of mermaids existing.
Back To Top
Not New, But Great
The controversy here isn't so much about whether or not mermaids are real, but about media literacy. And, much more specifically, about the power of the claim that things are "based on some real life events" (or "based on a true story" or "based on real events," whichever variation you might encounter).
This intertitle has become so overused that it's almost meaningless. Anything can be "based on a true story." In fact, any story that is in any way metaphorical (such as science fiction and fantasy stories) is "based on" reality, otherwise its metaphor is useless. The same can be said for comic book stories like Batman - society is faltering because good people do nothing, and then those good people stand up (only in an extreme way that goes beyond what most people would do).
Moreover, it's human nature to relate things to what we know, and most of us know some sort of "real life."
This connection might not seem like a strong argument against specifying that certain things are 'based on reality,' but just as people are apt to read things into various stories, so too are stories apt to feed these readings. Stories that don't have some relation to "real life" often don't make sense and often don't become very popular.
To take a risk and go out on a limb, stories that are successful speak to people's basic desires. Many stories that are coming out now are complicating these desires and the road to their fulfilment.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, or Geroge R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series are good examples of these desires being complicated. Yet, even they still come down to basic desires like wanting to be the hero, personal growth, or safety.
Back To Top
Publishing's Next Stage and Mainstream Acknowledgement
In terms of the documentary form itself, especially regarding the "Mermaids: The Body Found" documentary featured in today's article, it is an especially powerful tool for science fiction and fantasy.
These genres are so continuously popular because people are always looking for more than what they have.
As humans we're always trying to reach beyond our grasp. Putting this desire for more into a form that purports to give straight facts says to people, "hey, you know that thing that you really want to be real? Well, it is, and here are the facts."
That we're so willing to believe is also a great sign of our open-mindedness. Some might say that this willingness to believe is something that people need to guard against when it comes to the stuff of fantasy like mermaids and supernatural cures, but open minds are as necessary for advancement as they are for distraction.
Back To Top
Closing
Don't miss my look at 2011's Trespass for part three of Nicolas Cage month, and be sure to catch tomorrow's Annotated Links!
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
Not New, But Great
Publishing's Next Stage and Mainstream Acknowledgement
Closing
 |
Back To Top
Introduction
This past Sunday, the Discovery Channel aired a documentary that has stirred up controversy. The program in question is called "Mermaids: The Body Found," a work of science fiction in the form of a documentary.
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
The article (from The Christian Post) gives an overview of the controversy and sums it up by stating that the documentary's description and creators said that it is "based on some real life events." Whether or not this is a case of misdirection is not made clear.
Making things even more provocative, the article ends with some statements from the Discovery Channel that present logical arguments for the possibility of mermaids existing.
Back To Top
Not New, But Great
The controversy here isn't so much about whether or not mermaids are real, but about media literacy. And, much more specifically, about the power of the claim that things are "based on some real life events" (or "based on a true story" or "based on real events," whichever variation you might encounter).
This intertitle has become so overused that it's almost meaningless. Anything can be "based on a true story." In fact, any story that is in any way metaphorical (such as science fiction and fantasy stories) is "based on" reality, otherwise its metaphor is useless. The same can be said for comic book stories like Batman - society is faltering because good people do nothing, and then those good people stand up (only in an extreme way that goes beyond what most people would do).
Moreover, it's human nature to relate things to what we know, and most of us know some sort of "real life."
This connection might not seem like a strong argument against specifying that certain things are 'based on reality,' but just as people are apt to read things into various stories, so too are stories apt to feed these readings. Stories that don't have some relation to "real life" often don't make sense and often don't become very popular.
To take a risk and go out on a limb, stories that are successful speak to people's basic desires. Many stories that are coming out now are complicating these desires and the road to their fulfilment.
Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, or Geroge R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series are good examples of these desires being complicated. Yet, even they still come down to basic desires like wanting to be the hero, personal growth, or safety.
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Publishing's Next Stage and Mainstream Acknowledgement
In terms of the documentary form itself, especially regarding the "Mermaids: The Body Found" documentary featured in today's article, it is an especially powerful tool for science fiction and fantasy.
These genres are so continuously popular because people are always looking for more than what they have.
As humans we're always trying to reach beyond our grasp. Putting this desire for more into a form that purports to give straight facts says to people, "hey, you know that thing that you really want to be real? Well, it is, and here are the facts."
That we're so willing to believe is also a great sign of our open-mindedness. Some might say that this willingness to believe is something that people need to guard against when it comes to the stuff of fantasy like mermaids and supernatural cures, but open minds are as necessary for advancement as they are for distraction.
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Closing
Don't miss my look at 2011's Trespass for part three of Nicolas Cage month, and be sure to catch tomorrow's Annotated Links!
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
[Wōdnes-dæg] Crowdsourcing + Crowdfunding = Novel?
Introduction
The Article Summed Up
A Novel Form of Community?
A Return to Crowd-Sourcing Stories
Closing
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Introduction
While getting through the newspaper backlog resulting from a five day absence, I stumbled upon an article on the front page of the Arts section of Tuesday's Globe and Mail.
Immediately, the headline "Please write his book" caught my eye, and I knew that it had to be the subject of this week's editorial (beating out an article from Monday's paper about the usefulness of drones for Arctic "surveillance and sovereignty").
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The Article Summed Up
Daniel Perlmutter, a filmmaker and writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is not only crowdfunding his first novel, but he's crowdsourcing it as well.
However, instead of offering incentives like copies of the book, or special objects related to its creation, he's instead offering different elements of the novel itself. For 1000$, in fact, a backer can tell Perlmutter how the book ends.
Despite the hodgepodge of responses that this approach is likely to generate, Perlmutter has said "no matter what the project ends up being, it's going to be comedic in nature, just because of the very process."
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A Novel Form of Community?
First and foremost Perlmutter definitely deserves notoriety. Undoubtedly many people have tried to crowdfund their writing in the past (possibly even offering similar incentives), but that it's happening (again?) is great news.
A video game is something that can provide great entertainment and can tell excellent stories.
A piece of music or an album is something that can create a great atmosphere or provoke deep thoughts.
A piece of art or a graphic novel can plunge the depths of human experience and present what was found at its nadir in an easily digestible form that may just be as deep as the experience itself.
All of these media are represented on sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but books seem like hard sells on these sorts of platforms.
If something goes wrong with a piece of art, music, or digital entertainment, there are options. Art can be hung and forgotten, or accumulate value. Music can be passively enjoyed or remixed into something else. Video games that fail to deliver can be lampooned or re-made into something else.
But if a book fails to deliver, the disappointment can be palpable.
But that's where Perlmutter's project shines.
The success of so many crowdfunding projects hasn't come entirely from the promise of what was ultimately to be delivered, but because they pulled on the heartstrings of a community (thereby loosening its purse strings).
And that's exactly what Perlmutter's project does - it turns the creation of a novel from something solitary into something communal. Again, something done before, but with the power of the internet, the reach and grasp of such a project are greatly increased.
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A Return to Crowd-Sourcing Stories
Truly fascinating about Perlmutter's novel-to-be, though, is that crowdsourcing a work of fiction might just be the oldest way of making works of fiction.
Oral traditions, though often passed from generation to generation with the utmost care, would definitely have been subjected to additions or subtractions based on what the group performed for wanted (the original perhaps privately retained by the singer or maybe kept in a more occult tradition). And adjusting material to the desires of an audience is something that every successful artist does.
Thus, Perlmutter's project, and any others like it, are strange examples of some of the oldest reasons for crowdsourcing stories being brought into the internet age.
There might not be a campfire, and there may not be anyone in the audience who could lop off a head for a line that goes amiss, but the project definitely speaks to the human desire for community and for stories.
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Closing
Tomorrow, another set of annotated links will be posted, and on Friday watch for the search for the good in The Season of the Witch, part two of Nicolas Cage month.
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The Article Summed Up
A Novel Form of Community?
A Return to Crowd-Sourcing Stories
Closing
 |
Back To Top
Introduction
While getting through the newspaper backlog resulting from a five day absence, I stumbled upon an article on the front page of the Arts section of Tuesday's Globe and Mail.
Immediately, the headline "Please write his book" caught my eye, and I knew that it had to be the subject of this week's editorial (beating out an article from Monday's paper about the usefulness of drones for Arctic "surveillance and sovereignty").
Back To Top
The Article Summed Up
Daniel Perlmutter, a filmmaker and writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is not only crowdfunding his first novel, but he's crowdsourcing it as well.
However, instead of offering incentives like copies of the book, or special objects related to its creation, he's instead offering different elements of the novel itself. For 1000$, in fact, a backer can tell Perlmutter how the book ends.
Despite the hodgepodge of responses that this approach is likely to generate, Perlmutter has said "no matter what the project ends up being, it's going to be comedic in nature, just because of the very process."
Back To Top
A Novel Form of Community?
First and foremost Perlmutter definitely deserves notoriety. Undoubtedly many people have tried to crowdfund their writing in the past (possibly even offering similar incentives), but that it's happening (again?) is great news.
A video game is something that can provide great entertainment and can tell excellent stories.
A piece of music or an album is something that can create a great atmosphere or provoke deep thoughts.
A piece of art or a graphic novel can plunge the depths of human experience and present what was found at its nadir in an easily digestible form that may just be as deep as the experience itself.
All of these media are represented on sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but books seem like hard sells on these sorts of platforms.
If something goes wrong with a piece of art, music, or digital entertainment, there are options. Art can be hung and forgotten, or accumulate value. Music can be passively enjoyed or remixed into something else. Video games that fail to deliver can be lampooned or re-made into something else.
But if a book fails to deliver, the disappointment can be palpable.
But that's where Perlmutter's project shines.
The success of so many crowdfunding projects hasn't come entirely from the promise of what was ultimately to be delivered, but because they pulled on the heartstrings of a community (thereby loosening its purse strings).
And that's exactly what Perlmutter's project does - it turns the creation of a novel from something solitary into something communal. Again, something done before, but with the power of the internet, the reach and grasp of such a project are greatly increased.
Back To Top
A Return to Crowd-Sourcing Stories
Truly fascinating about Perlmutter's novel-to-be, though, is that crowdsourcing a work of fiction might just be the oldest way of making works of fiction.
Oral traditions, though often passed from generation to generation with the utmost care, would definitely have been subjected to additions or subtractions based on what the group performed for wanted (the original perhaps privately retained by the singer or maybe kept in a more occult tradition). And adjusting material to the desires of an audience is something that every successful artist does.
Thus, Perlmutter's project, and any others like it, are strange examples of some of the oldest reasons for crowdsourcing stories being brought into the internet age.
There might not be a campfire, and there may not be anyone in the audience who could lop off a head for a line that goes amiss, but the project definitely speaks to the human desire for community and for stories.
Back To Top
Closing
Tomorrow, another set of annotated links will be posted, and on Friday watch for the search for the good in The Season of the Witch, part two of Nicolas Cage month.
Back To Top
Friday, July 6, 2012
[Freya-dæg] Nicolas Cage Month Pt. 1: Deadfall Review
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Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing
Introduction
Co-written, directed, and produced by Christopher Coppola, Nicolas Cage may have gotten such a big role because of the family connection (Nic Cage is, after all a Coppola). Upon its initial release, the movie grossed $18,369 at the box office (and took 10 million to make), and critics panned it. As of this writing, the movie sits at a 0% among critics and a 29% among fans on Rotten Tomatoes - though Wikipedia notes that the Cage's role is among the best of his work that isn't supposed to be taken seriously.
So, it seems like Cage might be a high point, but what about the rest of the movie? Let's find out.
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Plot Summary
Meet Joe Donan (Michael Biehn), an all American boy with a secret: He's a con man. Joe's been running cons with his father Mike (James Coburn) for years, but when one of their grifts goes fatally wrong Joe follows his father's final wish and finds his twin brother. Joe meets his Uncle Lou (James Coburn) on the West Coast, along with his flunky Eddie (Nicolas Cage) and the mysterious Diane (Sarah Trigger).
Everything seems to be going well for Joe until jealousies and wild ambitions threaten to lead him into the same situation and even the same con that lead to his father's death. Will Joe be able to face up to his past in order to find his future? Or will he only stumble into the Deadfall?
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The Good
Staying very true to the form of the film noir, Deadfall is a very stylish movie. It's full of clean visuals, an excellent (if periodically ill-picked) soundtrack, and great lighting.
As per the movie's content, it also hits all of the necessary noir notes. It has a brooding hero with a past he'd rather forget, a mysterious strong-willed woman (played excellently by Trigger), a wild criminal, a calculating mastermind, and a plot that is all around sound.
Nic Cage also adds to the movie, though less through subtlety than through crazed abandon. Although we seldom see his character taking them, it's definitely clear that he's taking drugs, but what's curious about his performance here is that if the modern internet were around in the early 90s it would have been bristling with memes based on his performance here.
Cage's wild hollering, his strange intonation and word stressing, his unplaceable accent and mannerisms. In Deadfall, Nicolas Cage is practically a walking meme. Even *spoilers* his death */spoilers* could be made into a meme, or at the least could be used in a YouTube mashup with a voice over by the Mortal Kombat "Toasty!" guy.
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The Bad
It's unfair to say, but it must be said. This movie was made in 1993 and it shows. But, not in the production values, or in the special effects, more in the style and the atmosphere that it creates.
Film noir from earlier decades (China Town, Detour, The Manchurian Candidate, etc.) relied on subtlety and grit to keep their characters from becoming larger than life or unbelievable.
These elements are cast aside in Deadfall in favour of characters and situations that can only be described as *cue guitar riff* EXTRE-E-EME!
Cage himself is a good example of this, but so too are Dr. Lyme (Angus Scrimm) and Morgan "Fats" Gripp (Charlie Sheen).
Because these characters make the fiction of the movie that much larger, they make it seem a little more far-fetched than some may be willing to believe.
However, much more manifest in the movie is a problem with pacing. Thankfully it doesn't come up until the very end, but the way in which the history of Joe's parents and Uncle is revealed seems too rushed.
It's not until the last few minutes of that movie that we learn what happened between the brothers and the woman who is Joe's mother, and this is just far too late to really develop what could have been a great means of giving Joe and his father and uncle much more depth and intricacy.
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Judgment
Deadfall is a movie that deserves a second chance, a movie that was dealt with too harshly by its initial critics.
Showcasing the ham talent of a young Nicolas Cage, and encapsulating the spirit of driving things to the extreme in the 90s, its a movie that definitely should be watched by anyone interested in film noir, Nicolas Cage's career, or 90s film in general.
It's not perfect - it's definitely no Detour - but it tells its story in a competent fashion and features some great acting and actors.
So, Freya, part the glossy cloak of 90s style in which this one is wrapped and lift it up from the field of fallen films. This movie is one to be saved.
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Closing
Check back here next week for another piece of creative writing, another editorial on the newest news, and a hunt for the good in Season of the Witch. Also, be sure to check this blog on Tuesday and Thursday for more annotated links.
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