Writing and Blog

The Ongoing Rehabilitation of My Critical Faculties: Revisited

UPDATE, FEB. 6 2020: My Facebook profile is officially dead, thank Crom. By my understanding, it’ll take another thirty days for all of my data to (hopefully) get wiped from their servers.

If you’ll indulge a moment’s introspection, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve allowed social media to completely derail my focus and thinking. To counter this effect, which has been building up over (roughly) the last decade and a half, I’ve deleted my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Continue reading “The Ongoing Rehabilitation of My Critical Faculties: Revisited”

Tony Lazlo’s Thoughts on The New She-Ra

Netflix’s She-ra series got me thinking about the different approaches to reboots.

I’m stating the obvious here, but there are a few ways to go about revisiting old material. Until recent memory, the most common way to reboot a property was simply to remake it. (I’ll discuss the current definition of reboot—as I understand it, at least—in a moment.) More often than not, studios remade old properties that had some brand recognition (The Ten Commandments, Ocean’s Eleven, Sabrina). Whether or not these properties could benefit from being remade was immaterial. Opting to produce (or re-produce) a familiar property no doubt felt and continues to feel like a safe bet for Hollywood suits.

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General Writing Thoughts: The Medill Maxims

Basic Writing was supposed to strike fear into my heart. Instead, it brought the world into relief.

When I attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, the school’s curriculum required all freshmen to take a class called Basic Writing. Known as a weed-out course, the class was reputed to be one of the most challenging at Medill. And it was challenging, but it was challenging in the best way possible – you had too much fun to realize how hard you were working.

Continue reading “General Writing Thoughts: The Medill Maxims”

General Writing Thoughts: Screenwriting

Whether or not you work in Hollywood, I submit that screenwriting should be a part of every novelist’s routine. At the very least, it can provide a welcome change from writing standard prose, and it provides a host of different challenges for a writer. Let me explain:

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Influences: Miller’s Crossing

 

I’m… I’m… I’m just a grifter, Tom. I’m… I’m… I’m… I’m… I’m an nobody! But I’ll tell you what, I never crossed a friend, Tom. I never killed anybody, I never crossed a friend, nor you, I’ll bet. We’re not like those animals! This is not us! Th… th… this is some hop dream! It’s a dream, Tommy! I’m praying to you! I can’t die! I can’t die… out here in the woods, like a dumb animal! In the woods, LIKE A DUMB ANIMAL! Like a dumb animal! I can’t… I can’t… I CAN’T DIE OUT HERE IN THE WOODS!… like a dumb animal. I can’t… die!”

Continue reading “Influences: Miller’s Crossing”

Influences: Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

Now this is a deep cut. I credit the eccentric programmers at HBO back in the 80s for introducing me to this exciting feature, which borrows liberally from the Star Wars mythos to tell the tale of an escaped slave who finds a magic sword and frees his people. STARCHASER also features a lot of undeniably Christian imagery, as well as some offensively stereotypical middle-eastern villains.

Continue reading “Influences: Starchaser: The Legend of Orin”