I immediately counter the scene with another scene of gratuitous slapstick violence with a character’s former mistress slapping him repeatedly for not telling her that their bastard son (one of the lovers in said previous scene) is alive and has been alive for the past nineteen years outside of her knowledge.

I really enjoy good sentiment and tenderness when done well, and applaud writers who stir emotional reactions with non-contrived sweet romantic scenes when they are done well, but my god romance… get it away…

Writing grammatically correct Shakespeare Early Modern English and regular Modern English…hell just writing in general  is a huge pain. Kudos to the historical fiction and fantasy writers and all these historical SexyViolentTudors! type TV series’ screenwriters that soak this Renaissance and grammar stuff up and make legitimate serious fare with such language or that can actually pass as such. I still judge your uses of wyverns and hot elves though.

Thank god I’ve decided this play breaks the fourth wall a lot so the language comes and goes with the quips and characters drop it constantly but craaaap

Everyone is so damn witty. Innuendo everywhere.

Really the dialogue  from deadpan to frothy is developing very quickly and so is the plot, which is nice for a change as conflict has never been my strongest suit, I’d rather just make people laugh. Being given a  framework to work with according to the original folktale helps there, but I’ve already decided there will be some plot flourishes that differ from the original tale. Not so straightforward. I’m very much inspired by Much Ado About Nothing , Taming of The Shrew and by extension Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate for this, and I guess in a way it’s going to be a send up of such Shakespeare “dramedies” or my modern take on it, and if I can make fun of Romeo & Juliet in the process I will.  I haven’t had this much fun writing in a while though, and that’s what is appealing to me the most about it. It’s fun.

A local play group/theater is heavily considering the adaptation of the short story ‘Teddy’ (from the collection 9 Stories) by J.D. Sainger that I wrote for the stage last semester and may choose it for one of their mainstage shows for the 2012 season.

I found out this week and I still don’t know how to process the information.

From Leviathan Strikes! Oneshot by Grant Morrison (2011).

Such a great concept for Barbara Gordon that is ultimately WASTED by DC Comics. For his Batman Inc. concept Grant  Morrison revamped the disabled hacker Oracle into the DC’s version of a “Ghost In The Machine” having her now able to physically dive into the net. Just like Major Motoko Kusanagi of Ghost In The Shell, complete with this amazingly designed net avatar.

Suddenly her disability isn’t an issue (though still existent in the real world) and for the first time in twenty-two years, Barbara Gordon wears a costume, and one that isn’t Batgirl.

This should have been the compromise between Barbara Gordon as Batgirl fans and those that preferred her as Oracle as well as fans of the Batgirl as a legacy mantle. The reboot stripped the mantle from the fourth(ish) and somewhat cult favorite Batgirl since 2009, Stephanie Brown (set to return to her first hero mantle the Spoiler), and gave the mantle back to a de-aged and walking again (due to a clinic in South Africa) Barbara.

Why I like this instead of what DC has done and what was before is that it is something that is both Batgirl and Oracle and yet, is also neither. Oracle as a “costumed” field agent. But not. Hacker. But not.

While the internet has these days lost most of the “mysterious” Tron novelty it had when Oracle was first introduced in 1989, for me as a writer, the idea of Barbara pulling the plug on Oracle’s vastness as an internet “entity” and deus ex machina plot device is entirely okay. The ‘Death of Oracle’ storyline is fine in that respect.

Instead she works covert, focusing her work via this digital avatar, acting like a debugger, antivirus and or virus in herself. Again, the Major. Instead of seeing Oracle at her desk blowing up a compound in North Korea with the click of a button, we instead see a personified version of her performing that task herself. Add the ability to jump into cybernetic bodies and tech in the real world, and you have a ton of story possibilities. I always thought having Barbara suit up into a cybernetic suit in the real world would also be a possibility, and still be disabled too. You can work around problems, but lazy writing did turn Oracle into a stale character.

Listen to the authority in her voice here. The power Barbara Gordon has. It doesn’t matter how old she is, this person has authority.

She no longer has that power with the “reboot”, and has post time and space hiccup been stripped of her experience down to a wishy-washy Stephanie Brown (or worse her 70’s self) redeux minus either Stephanie’s or Barbara’s endearing qualities, a severe lack of confidence (to be expected), constant ptsd from getting crippled by The Joker, and a psychological thrill-seeking “I need to do this just to prove that I can, here’s a lock of my hair to remember me by in case I die” attitude, nothing short of a death wish. And not even a death wish akin to Cassandra Cain Batgirl, who was so devoted to “justice” and saving people that she’d do anything to save people, even if it meant her dying. Barbara’s drive is in opposition, entirely selfish. Is she really doing this to save people? Or just to prove to herself that she can.

She’s been returned to her basic elements of her character from the 1960’s, which was a thrill-seeker and a “prove Daddy (and myself) wrong/won’t I surprise him!” sort of mentality who happened to enjoy beating people up. And had photographic memory.  Something that comes off as neurotic and far more selfish and shades of grey these days, the latter of which I like, as it shows she’s not 100% and the new Batgirl book shows that quite upfront. Broken people are Gail Simone’s strength and I give her plenty of praise for that aspect. 

I feel DC really did miss the ball with this new look and purpose for Barbara. She could go from hacker to more of really an e-terrorist. Plus it would make fun art showing holograms of her on people’s wristwatch communicators and the like.

As a writer I would have really enjoyed tinkering with the idea of Oracle being a figure in the net literally. Part of me almost wishes that an accident happened and Barbara was sucked into/fused with the net and lost her body completely. Then disabled or not disabled wouldn’t even be an issue. She’d  find ultimate “freedom”. But the fact she was disabled even after she “unplugs” at the end of the day is also extremely dual and sobering.

This was a fresh take and way to utilize her and to see DC ignore what Morrison was trying to build for her and instead shoehorn her back into Batgirl boots just because she was the most “iconic” is complete hogwash. Merchandise driven: yes. Good fiction writing; probably not.

Sure it’s making money upfront now…but how long before the novelty of Barbara Gordon walking again after twenty two years, my whole life, wears off and the book becomes just another Bat-book? Was the sacrifice of both Oracle and Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl (regardless if the latter had an ongoing comic) in that case worth it?

dcwomenkickingass:

From the NY Post this morning.  Give the story a read, it’s a fair take on the issues. Those who have still questioned whether the Killing Joke happened, see below. It did, and apparently three years before the book begins. I assume that she was a teenager then? Ack, my head.

The writing is snappy, as you’d expect from Simone. She even gets a Batwoman joke in.

Sneak preview of the rebooted Barbara Gordon as Batgirl in her new book, her supposed “first” book as a lead in DC Comics, at least that’s what they and all media news sites are pushing it as if she’s been locked in a trunk as an inactive character for twenty-two years. That leads me to ask if Birds of Prey was chopped liver to count as her own “starring” book for most people since Babs, while a central figure to the book certainly had to share the spotlight with the heroine Black Canary and others. She obviously was the main character through, at least it appeared that way to me. Why people complain she didn’t have her own book is ridiculous. She did.

Now, I know it was bound to happen, being a Barbara Gordon book, and The Killing Joke has unfortunately for everyone under the sun who can’t let go, has become her definitive story despite not even being a main character, but a casualty of that narrative. But DC, can we actually have a story about Barbara Gordon without any flashback to The Killing Joke without it actually being essentially a frame by frame re-interpreted flashback? I mean, I feel like we’re given reinterpreted images of Barbara being shot every six months or so in some book one way or another. It’s like Martha Wayne and her damn pearls. People aren’t stupid, and you’re keeping them stupid by constantly spoon-feeding the images.

Artists, there are ways to flashback to the scene without actually redrawing it, without the need to even copy that book’s style either. A single panel close-up of a smashed coffee cup and coffee spill on the floor is all you need. Or, have her opening the door, and then draw a sound effect and then cut next panel solely to Commisioner Gordon’s reaction and nothing else. There is artistry in restraint, in lightness. I mean…people were able recreate the damn “iconic” page with Peeps.

If your portrayal of that moment cannot be done with Peeps, then I think you’re doing it originally, and in my opinion, right.

(Source: ineffableaether.com, via peppers-pray)

Boy, why are you (knowing all that you are good for)

crying? You sound all like dawn-time full of round robins,

 round robin red breast with white eye rings out crying

on the morning green.

I can hear you from here, from the windowsills,

in the old holly tree you’re calling, calling, curious and calling

“What’s your name?”  into the rising blue. Iris, Echo answer, earnestly,

“Wendy Moira Angela Darling”, but it seems you forget it all by noon.

Names don’t last too long, like spring, or cities, or even cities falling into spring.

It seems, to soothe your wanting, boy, you place all that you love into a giant heap to dip in bronze, to steady, halt them, to hold forever and, being selfish, keep, like your father’s bookend shoes or dipped wildflowers from St. Timothy’s creek. Looking, looking under rocks, the moon, you with your muddy, blondish locks picking the ground for rings, shinier, happier things underneath the garden gate. They found you there underneath that gate, clawing underneath that garden gate. They caught you there underneath that garden gate  at the feral age of two. Boy, where were you going with all those feathers in your hair?

1. Unnamed Jukebox musical

(Probably named for titular character’s superhero alter-ego which I won’t name cause it’s the internet and I’d like to sit on it cause I’m a brat)

This one is perhaps the most cracked out idea I’ve ever had. It has literally been brewing since sophomore year of high school. Never really got down to paper until I smartened up a bit and now that I’m older I feel I can properly parody what I want to parody, and I am enjoying every second of trying to write it. Idea is a live action parody and homage to all things pretty much ZING and POW, ranging from poking fun and making homage to Japanese animation tropes and Western superhero comic books and cartoons. When sharing the basic idea with others people always say, “Oh so it’s like Kick-Ass or Scott Pilgrim” and I hate that because I wouldn’t peg those as being what I have in mind.

It’s a bit more cartoony, the violence more like Scott Pilgrim, yes, but with much more likable characters ( I loathe Scott Pilgrim, he’s such a douche) and I’d say most of the influence probably comes mainly from 90’s era creator-driven cartoons, Cartoon Network’s Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls in particular. Their flat papery retro-chic look and use of camp and old-school Japanese anime and monster schlock were my favorite tv shows growing up I think.

I’m setting it in a pseudo late-fifties, early nineteen sixties, so pretty much I envision a Mad Men or Hairspray pastel vomit atmosphere and allows me to have all sorts of stuff like teddy boy and greaser gangs. I already know I have a Marylin Monroe parody character, or ‘bombshell’ typical of the period, and then a counterpart  that exemplifies the male lead of the era, kind of Rat Pack. Both characters, a teacher and the janitor, are the only two characters that are NOT superheroes, supervillans, mutants, mob, etc. Oh it takes place at a junior high school or a high school. Okay don’t say, ” Oooh superhero school, seen that shit on Disney Channel” or “OH that’s just X-men”, either, it’s not that at all, more like the schoolyard episodes of Dexter’s Laboratory where dodge ball suddenly involve robots and such with little explanation and no one really bats an eye afterward. Everyone has a secret identity, no one student admits to being a vigilante or a member of an underground evil Corporation outside of school, but they are. No one ever suspects each other, it’s like perfect mid-century brainwashing. The plot really is about when the only student who isn’t a hero or villain outside of school decides to self-fashion himself as one and it goes from there. So in a way, yes, that is similar to Kick-Ass with a “normal” attempting to become a hero, but mine is meant to be pure FUN, not dank and depressing semi realism. It’s more, I’d say 60’s Batman TV show. It’s also a musical.  And a narrator that show up onscreen and breaks the fourth wall.All the music that they will sing as I write it are either old r&b, doo-wop, soul, rock and roll and pop standards from that time period that I like and dust off, so it kind of runs the gamut, little bit of rockabilly, little bit of crooner stuff, early Motown and soul.

Might be drawing a few character sketches….more to come….if I can get my shit together.

Dear Apsiring Writers (including myself):

Take note. While toiling away, trying to write a meaningful story that justly captures some aspect of the human experience, remember that publishing, like any creative pursuit, is first and foremost a business. You could write the greatest tale that has ever been told, but if no one believes that’s it’s marketable, no one will publish it. Meanwhile, someone who is famous for tanning, teasing her hair and getting excessively drunk in public will get a book published almost instantly because the publisher knows it will make them a lot of money.

Some depressing statistics about books:

• 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
• 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.
• 70% of books published do not earn back their advance.
• 70% of books published do not make a profit.

Knowing all of this, publishers pander to the lowest common denominator. They are far more likely to publish a terrible book that will sell a million copies than a brilliant book that will sell five hundred copies. Taking a gamble on a book they know almost no one will read is simply not worth their money.

However, you can at least try to take solace in the fact that in twenty years, people will still be reading, analysing and loving Poe’s work, yet no one will remember or care who Snooki is.

This is pathetic.

(Source: palahniukandchocolate, via blerughrugh)

When I write, I have to like what I make, I have to be proud of the time that went into making it. If I ever go back to a piece and reading it, am not pleased with it, then it is not good enough for what I am looking for and I usually have to do some major overhaul on it. I didn’t craft it well enough; not enough time, not enough thought. Probably ninety-five percent of my writing from high school falls into this category, it’s just not good enough, so I have shelved it. Many of my works even outside of high school have all end up in this kind of position, unfinished and myself displeased with them, cast aside to either gather dust or wait for the possibly that I’ll revisit it someday and then cannibalize it and like Frankenstein, use their cadavers to build something else.

This method really hasn’t done much for me per se, and it really hasn’t been until this year in playwriting class and last semester’s poetry seminar that I’ve really produced things I am entirely happy to have my name on. They’re very me, I enjoy them being read out loud. Other pieces, mostly when dealing with writing short fiction and other poems, even in college, have always ended up in the former state of unfinished and unsettled so I’m glad I’ve gotten over that bump and perhaps have progressed a bit. 

A big thorn in my side has been this fantasy script I started senior year in highschool as an homage to children’s fantasy literature and fairy tales, that means it’s been four or fiveish years of me sitting on a work of fragmented scenes that have been tweaked with, dumped, deleted and lost then recovered and rewritten again and again. None of the results have made me happy enough, so it has sat unfinished and bitter.  I attribute this towards a bit of an avoidance towards conflict in my writing, it’s a self professed weak spot I have, something I’m not afraid to admit. Most of the time I would rather make people laugh or construct pretty visuals, so when I am forced to do dramatic scenes, arguments, serious talks, I often feel incredibly contrived and sappy. I’ve strayed away from writing about my family and my life in recent years because of that fact as well. I like good sentiment, but I find because of failing at it miserably before, that I’ve shyed away from the personal and when I aim for poignancy, have tried to direct it in a manner that is meant to be poignant but not saccharine. Contrived shlock is the worst thing I could ever produce. I refuse to produce that kind of writing ever again.

After almost six years or so of sitting and mulling, I’ve had a bit of breakthrough with said script. It was somewhat natural, and it was kind of amazing how it kind of just fell into my lap. I just recently realized a lot of similarities with my script, with that of the the story The Snow Queen. I was a bit disappointed at first, thinking ” Oh, it’s been done before, what was I thinking,” but then I came to accept the similarities and the fact that mine was originally rather different, closer in spirit to say The Wizard of Oz as a direct homage, but realizing additional similarities to existing works helped. I think it is safe to draw appropriate influence from The Snow Queen the way let’s say, the film Black Swan owes a lot of it’s pedigree to The Red Shoes. Then an element that was vaugely hinted about in an early draft, the relationship between that of parent and child and different types of parenting, suddenly clicked with some relevance in my actual life, back when I was nine years old, in how my family dealt with the death of my grandfather. I I’ve decided to run with that connection. In a way it allows me to revisit and make a commentary to a time of my life that I think if I tried to approach it earlier, the result certainly would be sentimentalized and sloppy. So in all, by letting it sit, I’ve let it develop somewhat a much more concrete idea and a plot to follow with a theme and purpose whereas before, it was mainly me wishing to be fanciful.

So artists, writers, anybody, ya’ll needs to realize it takes a quite a while to refine one’s skills of both perception and your own craft, I know I’m not done learning either, and I’m going to have to learn if I’m ever going to have a movie made from one of my scripts. I think the wait and frustration is worth it unless you want to produce bullshit like Twilight or some steampunk melodrama (don’t get me wrong, I love Edwardian wear, I look GOOD in Edwardian wear, I just find the excess of goggles and gears to be excessively…stupid, not to hurt anyone’s feelings). I feel in the case of this screenplay, the fact that I’ve sat on it for so long and that I’ve let both myself and the script mature, the end result will be ultimately, superior and more meaningful and important to myself than if I would have tried to complete it four years ago. Now that I have a better idea where I want to take it, I’m really quite happy and content with where it stands, I’m not so ” You unfinished dog!” when I look at the file, but I know this is not always going to be the case. I may get to a certain point with it and then suddenly get stuck again, but that’s okay. The sudden progression with something that was pretty much shelved has taught me that good things really do take a lot of time and sometimes you just need to mature and absorb other works and learn before you can actually produce what you want to produce. Wait it out.