Feb. 29 - A Season of Change

A Season of Change

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog, it’s function in the overall world, and what I want it to accomplish. I struggled to find ways of making it interesting, enjoyable, and something that people want to read. It’s not just about me, it’s about creating a community of people that want to speak into things, discuss topics, and help each other learn.

So, I’m hear to announce that Selling Words on a Page is going to become more focused on home gardening.

Oh, wait…that’s my other blog, The Chlorophyll Times…but seriously…

A Brave New World

Selling Words on a Page is going to become more focused on things writers and readers care about and enjoy discussing. As I write new material, including an upcoming novel, I’m going to blog about it, invite discussion, and absorb all of your feedback to make my works better. In the process, I’ll be interviewing other authors, sharing interesting articles, and pointing to key areas where strategy plays a huge role in what you read on a page.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be writing reviews of movies, but I’ll be much more intentional about it. I want to focus in on the stories and how we all interact with them.

Upcoming Posts

For those who are accustomed to reading this blog, and to those who just started, here are some upcoming posts that you may enjoy:

• The Messenger Chronicles (tentatively titled) – Exploratory Ideas: I’ll be talking about a novel I intend to start writing soon.
• The Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff Interview: In the next couple months I’ll talking to fellow Infinite Space, Infinite God alum and successful writer (she's even listed in Wikipedia!).
  
• The Messenger Chronicles – Characters: Help me develop exciting, Heroes-like characters for my new novel.
• Ending TimeSlingers.com, The Shadow Phase: It’s coming to a close, and it’d be great to talk about.
  

I can’t wait to get started. I hope you’re excited, too. Thanks for reading! I’ll be waiting to hear from you!

I Am Legend...or Robert Neville?

Will Smith Isn't in this One

I just finished reading I Am Legend (don't click that link if you're looking to avoid spoilers) by Richard Matheson. It's sort of a novelette - not quite short story, not quite novel (which is basically the definition of novelette...moving on). And it's good. Not great, but very good.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but thought that I'd write a short post about the prose side of the house. First off, the story provides a great example of what time does to works of art. I didn't know much about it before picking it up. Matheson wrote it in 1954. He staged it in 1976. That's good context to have. Why? Well, without giving too much away, we've seen this same story about a billion times since.

At the time, in 1954, this was ground breaking. The world hadn't seen anything like this yet (similar things, sure, but not quite the same). I'm sure this hit pretty hard. Since that time, though, we've seen a lot of what I Am Legend puts on the page. With that in mind, let me write up a quick assessment:

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Hard core science fiction fans will love the story, because Matheson takes his time to back it up with scientific elements. I won't go into detail, but science does weave itself into the plot, and Matheson does it with excellence.

The tone and setting are great. Eerie, lonely, dramatic, and at times psychotic. As a reader you're engaged at the right level. It's cool.

The ending is brilliant. You have to read the last sentence to understand. It's interesting, and it fits perfectly with the rest of the storyline.

Cons:

Will Smith isn't the hero. I know, how fair is that. Will Smith wasn't even born when the story came out, but I saw the previews before I read the story... I was expecting Will Smith (in fact, he's on the cover). The hero's name is Robert Neville. It actually fits the character, but it doesn't fit Will Smith. I was expecting Will Smith. I can't fault the writer, I'm just saying.

I think it could have used a bit more action. We hear a lot of what the main character is thinking, we see him interact with his house a lot, and sometimes he does get out and the conflict rises, but I could have used a bit more action.

Some of the "science" to me is a little far-fetched. Some of it (I don't want to give anything away) is great, but other things (I'm just going to say the word "crosses" for those who have read the story) are a little implausible.

I Am Will Smith

Should you read the story? Absolutely. It's a short read at 158 pages (small type), but it's pretty good. Should you see the movie? I don't know, but I'm anxious to compare the two. I'm guessing that I'll like the movie better, but that's because I'm an action-adventure writer, so I like things to move very quickly. We'll see, though, you never know...

Have you seen the movie or read the story? Let me know!

With Science Fiction... The Future Looks Bleak

Don't look ahead.

If science fiction stories have taught us anything, it's not to travel to the future. Time travel can be a good thing, granted we go back in time, but we can't go forward. Bad things happen in the future. We can put money on the fact that the future won't look good. Take these stories, for example:

Terminator 2
When we get a glimpse at the future, it's definitely not going well for us. Robots (as always) have taken over us idiot human beings. Not only that, but as it turns out, our only hope is a baby that will eventually become some great leader.

Lesson: Don't build robots that have the capability of becoming smarter than us. Matrix? iRobot? Seriously, we don't stand a good chance. Robots should be dumb and just vacuum the carpet.

Back to the Future, Part II
In the past, Biff was a thug with a funny haircut. In the future, Biff is a billionaire that ruins your entire life. The future is not a good place to be for a McFly.

Lesson: Don't leave your time machine unattended. Your worst enemy will steal it and use it to ruin your life.

Heroes
In five years the world is still recovering from a catastrophe. Peter Petrelli now has a massive scar and is dating a stripper, and the president is the most evil person on the planet. Not to mention Hiro has gone from a nice guy to a character from the Matrix.

Lesson: If you can draw the future...don't. If you can travel there, grow a soul patch and carry a sword.

Time Travel with Care

So, if you're thinking about visiting the future, please reconsider. Nothing seems to go right. Instead, visit the past. Every time someone goes back in time they introduce something amazing, like a cigarette lighter, and are suddenly nominated for regional king. Generally, kingship requires that you fight off an entire army, but let's face it, you've got a lighter!

If you're considering time travel, I would advise checking out www.timeslingers.com. It's a fun little adventure that Nathan Scheck and I have put together, and the best part is...it's free! And, there's no future travel! We wouldn't want something bad to happen to our characters! (not yet, anyway)

Any other future mishaps come to mind? Let me know!

Science Fiction - It's Crowded in Here

The Market

I write science fiction stories…just like the other billion people on the planet. As science fiction writers (and sci-fi fans, too), we live in a saturated market. Look around. Books and stories pile up around us like Starbucks bistros in Seattle. They’re everywhere. Everyone seems to be interested in science fiction. It’s become such a huge market that we’ve started categorizing it. Here are just a few:

• The Scientists
• Favorite phrase: “The science better be quantifiably accurate in this manuscript or my head will rotate like Jupiter’s second moon!”
• Character profile: The Professor from Gilligan’s Island.
• This audience group likes to ponder, likes things to make complete sense (or at least function in a way that’s probable), and they like to make the rest of us look stupid (which is probably true). These guys and gals start talking and we just keep nodding our heads. Some of them even build the things they read about in their hard core science fiction books.

• The Adventurers
• Favorite phrase: “What did that scientist guy just say?”
• Character profile: Flash Gordon.
• These guys are like the Indiana Jones’ of writers and fans. They moonlight as professors, but they never teach from the textbooks. If you ask them who Asimov is they’ll give you a confused look until you remind them that he was the bad guy from Star Wars.

• The Imitators
• Favorite phrase: “May the force be with you.”
• Character profile: Dr. Spock.
• Dressing up like their favorite characters, they attend massive conventions with other people that dress up like their favorite characters. Unlike the “scientists,” they have no idea how real science relates to their universe, but they can easily rattle off the reason why a light saber never draws blood (except in the Mos Eisley Cantina scene).

• The Cool People
• Favorite phrase: “Mulder’s and Scully would be like, sooo good together.”
• Character profile: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• The first ones to make fun of “The Imitators,” this group leeches onto popular TV shows and movies without realizing they really are science fiction geeks like the rest of us. They call us losers, but deep down, they really wish they too could build a flux capacitor, dress like a Wookie, or at least jump on the latest comic book craze.

Each one of these audience groups writes science fiction, too. The Scientists write things that the rest of us don’t understand. The Adventurers start a lot of things, but never seem to finish. Fan Fiction? You guessed it, The Imitators. And The Cool People? Well, they mostly just stick to text messages.

So, as a writer, I think about all you guys in each of the groups listed here. I try to differentiate, to tweak things and make them unique. It doesn’t always work, but it pays to try. Sometimes you hit 3 out of the 4 groups and everybody is onboard. Sometimes you hit just one.

What group do I fall under? I’m one of The Adventurers who wishes he could talk to The Cool People, but really wants to hang out with The Imitators.

Which group are you a part of?