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Wood the Writer

~ Author of Tales From Undersea

Wood the Writer

Category Archives: musings

What #ChangetheChannel has taught me about online content creation

12 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, Common Criticism, criticism, film, indie, internet, musings

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#ChangetheChannel, Change the Channel, Channel Awesome, Doug Walker, Nostalgia Critic, online content creator

You might have heard of a controversy that’s circulating the internet right now going by the name #ChangetheChannel. In a nutshell, it involves a website called Channel Awesome which hosts video reviews, recaps, etc about pop culture. It was started by Doug Walker as a place to showcase his Nostalgia Critic character but went on to host dozens of other reviewers. For years it was an incredibly popular website and I’m one of the many who used to visit it religiously. I used to have a lot of fun watching videos with my boyfriend (now my husband) and fondly remember watching Kickassia together and holding each other’s hands as we chanted ‘We believe in Santa Christ!’

But like any big company, it had immoral things going on behind the scenes. Previous contributors to the site have revealed that they were let go for arbitrary reasons and that the management was incredibly poor and misogynistic. In March, a Twitter thread and later a compiled document from over a dozen past and present contributors to the site revealed that things were much worse than anybody suspected. The worst allegation is that the higher ups in the site were involved in sexual abuse which went unreported.

I may create written content rather than videos, but this controversy has told me a few things about making content online, and I hope that other creators can take something away from this too:

It’s not the You show starring You

Ok I’ll admit it, I like being praised for my work. It’s just a natural human instinct. But if you become big enough, it’s easy to become elitist and snobby, which definitely seems to have happened to Doug Walker and the other Channel Awesome higher ups. Many of the website’s problems seem to have come from them treating Doug as a star who could do no wrong and neglecting the other contributors because they weren’t as important in their eyes.

Youtubers usually need to use themselves to brand their work, just as authors need to sell themselves to sell their books. But all creators, no matter how popular they get, need to remember that it is the content that is drawing in their audience, not just themselves.

Respond to controversy correctly

To add further fuel to the fire, Channel Awesome responded to the allegations with a non-apology statement, posted on Twitter, by far the best place for public apologies, which actually included the phrase “we’re sorry you felt that way”. This was basically saying ‘it’s your own fault if you were offended by the horrible things we did’.

Channel Awesome aren’t the first media producers to be involved with a controversy, but some others who have did at least acknowledged their mistakes and apologised for them. Some even voluntarily stepped down from the websites they were associated with.

While sincere apologies don’t automatically excuse you from bad behaviour, they are at least the right way to respond to controversy, rather than trying to weasel your way out of them and avoiding blame.

Being a critic doesn’t make you a creator

It’s almost painfully ironic that Doug Walker famously reviewed The Room, which is regarded as one of the worst movies ever due to the incompetence of its director. The making of the film was so awful that it has had books and films made about it (which I highly recommend, btw). Based on the testimonies made by CA contributors, when Walker made his own movies, he did similar things (not providing food and water, ignoring continuity errors, spending hours filming scenes which never made it into the film, etc) and has a similarly over-inflated ego.

I occasionally get paid book review jobs, but that’s more of a side hustle for extra pocket money. Learning what works and what doesn’t work in books can help with my own writing, but I know that being a critic doesn’t automatically make me a great writer, because criticism and writing are two highly different skills.

Don’t settle for a shitty company

I’ve worked for shitty companies before, both as a writer and in my previous career in retail. Thankfully I’ve never been involved with a company which has committed sexual assault, but I did briefly work for one which was involved with attempted murder.

The signs of a shitty company are almost always the same; poor management, lack of communication, overworking staff, no respect for employees, and those who act like paying others is a favour rather than an obligation. I know that financial necessity often leads us to settle for shitty companies, but the golden rule of ‘never work for exposure’ always stands. Your time and talent are worth so much more and moving on from an awful company is the best feeling in the world.

 

The nature of the internet is ever changing and some of the forecasts are scary for those of us who make a living from creating online content. But this controversy shows all online creators, be they writers, Youtubers, streamers, bloggers, podcasters, artists, or whatever else that if we respect each other and our work, we can still keep on creating the content that we and our audiences love.

This is the quality content I go online for.

Update: Right after I published this post (and I do mean right after), I found out that Channel Awesome has posted a more detailed response to their website. But this too doesn’t contain an apology and once again comes across as their way to try and weasel out of the accusations.

Top five books with good premise but bad execution

27 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book review, criticism, fantasy, musings, romance, steampunk, story, top 5 list, writing

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

book criticism, books, creative writing, lit, writing

If you could name one thing in common with all your favourite books, it would probably be that they all have an excellent premise. Perhaps it is a new twist on an old genre, a unique location, or a fascinating character. It is the thing which made you choose the book over thousands of others on the shelves.

But like me, you might have frequently found yourself drawn into a book by its excellent premise only to find that the content of the book is severely lacking, or not what you were expecting. These are some of the books I have read which I had high hopes for but which I felt weren’t carried out well (this is all opinion based so don’t get your panties in a bunch if I slag off a book that you like):

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

The premise: A teenage boy travels to a remote English villa to find out what happened to his missing father, and uncovers mysterious secrets.

The execution: Mystery, time travel, steampunkish tech, faeries, and some other stuff I just didn’t get all jammed together into one book. This book had a strong opening, but then threw so much stuff at me all at once that I barely had time to take it all in or keep track of what was going on.

The King’s Sister by Anne O’Brien

The premise: A story about Elizabeth of Lancaster, sister of King Henry IV and a little-known figure of history.

The execution: Medieval soap-opera melodrama and problems which were either solved way too quickly or just seemed to solve themselves eventually anyway.

Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks

The premise: A highly different fantasy which is set not in another world or the distant past, but in the post-apocalyptic far future.

The execution: Just another bog-standard sword-and-sorcery fantasy. There are so many things that could have been done with this premise- Magic duels in the ruins of skyscrapers, contemporary stories becoming folklore, everyday modern objects viewed as sacred artefacts. If you want this same premise done much better, read the Mortal Engines series instead.

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

The premise: A teenage orphan and her friends get the chance to travel to a remote palace in Russia and uncover hidden family secrets.

The execution: Cliched characters, a protagonist who is barely active in her own story, and huge, completely noticeable plot holes.

Dragon’s Child by M.K. Hume

The premise: An origin story for King Arthur, focusing heavily on the Roman Britain setting.

The execution: Murder, rape, torture, paedophilia, slavery, and just plain uncomfortable reading.

 

What are some books which you thought were going to be great but severely let you down? Tell me in the comments below.

The Villain Redemption Story. Part 2: When to Redeem Villains

05 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in Common Criticism, culture, fantasy, film, musings, story, tv, villain, writing, writing advice

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

novel, novel writing, story, story arc, villain, writing, writing advice, writing tips

I previously wrote about the villain redemption story and why it is such a great story to write about. But just like with every type of story, it can only work if it is done correctly. There are villain redemption stories which work and ones which don’t work. When is it right for a villain to be redeemed and when should they be left as they are? I’ve listed some examples of both to help identify when the right time to redeem a villain is:

  1. The Comic Villain

Discord_sitting_ashamed_S03E10

Cartoonishly comic villains such as Discord, Gideon Gleeful, or Dr. Doofenshmirtz were all funny villain characters but they could also be genuine threats, and sometimes even outright terrifying. This type of villain can be redeemed since they are rarely the standard big bads so it is easier for readers to relate to and even sympathise with them. Funny villains are often much more incompetent compared to their darker counterparts so we can buy that they can be converted to the good side.

  1. Story Potential

As I mentioned, there are countless numbers of stories you can have with a redeemed villain. It is often an ongoing process that can stretch over several books and provide your readers with many moral questions to mull over.

  1. The Morality Pet

Ideally someone needs to show the villain the error of their ways and inspire them on the path to goodness. The morality pet trope is ideal for this, by providing the villain with a change in perspective, giving them something they can care for, and showing the readers their good side in how they protect and care for that person.

When not to redeem villains:

  1. For the Sake of Drama

While the villain redemption story can increase drama, using it purely for the sake of increased drama rarely works well. There needs to be a reason for the drama to exist otherwise it will seem forced and unconvincing. Don’t shove in a redemption arc into your story just for the sake of it either. If you look at your story and find that a redemption arc doesn’t fit into it anywhere, then don’t feel as if you need to include one.

  1. The Moral Guardian Ending

I call it this because a villain redeemed at the very end of the story with no build up feels like an ending suggested by a focus group or a concerned parent’s union and not by the author. If you have your villain change at the very end just for the sake of everyone feeling happy and getting along, the concerned parents may be happy but your readers won’t be. It is much better to redeem a villain with an ongoing story arc, and even with good characters struggling with viewing them as good, instead of at the last minute.

  1. Mind Wipe

A common way that writers try to force in the Moral Guardian Ending is not by having the villain decide to change but for the heroes to turn them good by use of magic. This is problematic for two reasons. First of all, it is assuming that good and evil are easily identifiable, when as I discussed earlier they are in fact subjective and sometimes even ambiguous. Secondly, it doesn’t look too good when the hero essentially mind rapes the villain into thinking exactly as they do. If the villain did something like that then everybody would be saying how terrible it is.

The Care Bears were the real villains all along...

The Care Bears were the real villains all along…

  1. Irredeemable Villains

200px-ClaudeFrollo

While many villains can be redeemed, there are others who can’t be redeemed and shouldn’t. These are characters who you want to see punished. In Disney’s adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frollo spends the story as a murderous bigot so it is intensely satisfying when he is flung down to hell at the end. If a villain has no reason to be forgiven for something truly evil then they shouldn’t be, by either the characters or the author. Otherwise readers will be wondering why other characters are showing sympathy for a villain who doesn’t deserve it or why they should feel any sympathy themselves.

Next time I’ll be taking these last two posts together and detail fully how to write the villain redemption story.

Manga Review – Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc

28 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, Blog, fantasy, manga review, musings, romance, series review, shojo, story

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cardcaptor sakura, clamp, clamp manga, clear card arc, kero, magical girl, manga, manga review, romance manga, sakura, shipping, shojo manga, syaoran, tomoyo, touya, yaoi, yue, yukito

ccs

It’s a good time to get nostalgic about anime and manga at the moment. Right after Fruits Basket got a sequel series, my other favourite manga series Cardcaptor Sakura is also getting a sequel, to coincide with the manga’s 20th anniversary, and the first chapter has just come out in Japan.

Cardcaptor Sakura is one of Clamp’s most popular series and along with Sailor Moon, it was one of the defining series of the magical girl genre until Madoka came along and turned it super angsty.

I’ve been re-watching the anime lately and it not only still holds up (the only thing that has become outdated is the bulky cell phones), its portrayal of LGBT+ characters was amazingly progressive for a late 90’s show, something that western animation is still struggling to get to grips with. The general rule of Cardcaptor Sakura, and with Clamp manga in general, is that love has no boundaries such as gender, age, or whether a person is technically human. While this does provide a few questionable student/teacher romances, it’s rare to see a series where sexuality and gender identity are treated in such a way. Touya and Yukito were probably the first yaoi couple I knowingly shipped like crazy (I shipped other guys as ‘friends’ thanks to section 28) and it took me this long to realise that Yukito is technically non-binary. If you throw in his alternate form Yue, does that technically make it a polyamorous relationship?

Always date a person who's hair is longer than their body.

Always date a person whose hair is longer than their body.

The plot of the original series was about a precariously cute little girl named Sakura who discovers a book of magical cards called Clow Cards in her father’s library and accidentally sets them all loose. She has to become the Cardcaptor and use her growing magical powers to get them back and stop them causing mischief throughout the town, all while trying to get the cute boy she has a crush on to notice her.

The Clear Card arc picks up almost exactly where the manga left off; on Sakura’s first day of middle school when she and her long distance boyfriend Syaoran are finally reunited and can finally be together forever. But on the same night, Sakura gets another of her prophetic dreams about a mysterious figure in strange clothes, indicating that a new supernatural thereat is on its way.

Even if Sakura has only aged up a few years in the story’s timeline, there is still a strong feeling of ‘my daughter is all grown up’ for the reader. It’s refreshing to see all of the characters again in their original forms, and not with all the Tsubasa alternate dimension self weirdness (sorry Clamp fangirls, but I really didn’t like Tsubasa). Tomoyo, Sakura’s loyal best friend, is hilarious as ever when she films Sakura and Syaoran’s touching reunion and for some reason I find it funny that Kero, a magical creature who has lived for hundreds of years, has an e-mail address.

Perhaps it is because the characters are getting older but something still feels slightly off with this first chapter. Sakura and Syaoran aren’t quite as lovey dovey as you’d expect of a couple who have been separated for years. They even re-exchange their homemade teddy bears, which in the original manga were a symbol of their love for each other. I really worry that is some kind of horribly foreshadowing. There is also a notable absence of Yukito, despite being a major character and presumably an official couple with Touya by now. Perhaps there just wasn’t enough time in the first chapter to introduce him along with everyone else.

Even so, all of these new questions are intriguing. The series has been able to develop itself while still keeping with the spirit of the original. I’m looking forward to the next installments of the story arc and seeing what is going to happen to Sakura and her friends from here.

Book Review – A Company of Swans

18 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, book review, culture, musings, romance, story, villain, writing

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a company of swans, ballet, book review, books, edwardian fiction, historical fiction, reading, romance fiction, ya, ya fiction, ya historical fiction, ya literature, ya romance

A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson. Published by Macmillan Children’s Books.

a company of swans

A Company of Swans is a coming of age story following the journey of 18 year old Harriet Morton in 1912. Under the strict supervision of her father, who is literally the most boring professor in the world, her spinster aunt, and the local Ladies’ Tea Circle, Harriet lives a joyless life. Despite her academic upbringing, her father won’t let her go to university as he expects her to marry her suitor, a young zoology professor named Dr. Edward Finch-Dutton. Harriet’s only outlet is her weekly ballet classes, which she excels at. When she is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to join a famous Russian ballet company and perform in the most luxurious opera house in the world, Harriet is ecstatic but of course her father refuses.

Harriet defies her father and runs away to join the troupe regardless. In the far away exotic city of Manaus in Brazil, she performs for the rich rubber barons and wins the heart of the charming owner of the opera house. But her father, aunt, and would-be-fiancé are eager to bring her back and are on her tail.

Instantly, this book ticks all of my boxes. A strong and likeable female protagonist? Yes. A girl in a historical setting defying the patriarchy? Yes. Ballet? Hell yes! Any other readers who are into such things will enjoy this novel as well. Even those who aren’t into ballet can enjoy it for its other elements. Although the book is classed as young adult, there is plenty for older readers to get into as well (although not so much younger readers due to a few risque plot points).

While the father and aunt are fairly stereotypical characters, I appreciated that Harriet’s suitor Edward isn’t the standard evil fiancé who is only there to make the main love interest look better by comparison. There are surprisingly several things to like about him. He allows female students in his class, which Harriet’s father wouldn’t dream of, and he is an accomplished and passionate zoologist at a time when the science was still new and under-appreciated. In fact, his love of discovering new insect species could be compared to Harriet’s love of ballet. His desire to ‘save’ Harriet isn’t out of a sense of evil or a need to possess her but out of a misplaced sense of Edwardian manliness.

The major let down for me, however, was the ending. I won’t spoil it but it did turn out differently from what I was hoping for. Perhaps it is unfair of me to judge historical fiction from a modern day feminist perspective but considering how the rest of the book was such a great ‘screw you’ to social norms at the time, it was a disappointment. It is still a happy ending and much more than what a young girl of Harriet’s social class could expect at the time but some readers may also be put off by this ending.

The book is generally well written but the flowery language and sudden point of view shifts can be distracting.  The author also has a tendency to delve into the backstory of everyone and everything as soon as they’re introduced, but this tones down considerably in the latter half of the book.

I would still recommend checking out this book so that you can judge the ending for yourself. Perhaps your perspective on it will be different than mine and you will see it in a more positive light. It is still an enthralling tale of romance, accomplishing your dreams, and the magic of ballet.

My verdict – 4 out of 5

Top Seven Worst Types of Love Interest

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, Common Criticism, musings, romance, story, tv, writing, writing advice

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

bad writing, creative writing, love interest, muse, romance, romance cliches, romance fiction, story, writers, writing

A while ago I talked about the types of love story that turn my stomach. Today I’m going to talk about the types of love interest which make me throw a book into a fireplace, or throw the remote at the television. I’m not going to go on about Mary Sues or Manic Pixie Dream Girls because other people have already given hilarious parodies of those. These are the ones which I personally can’t stand.

  1. The Plank of Wood.
A Plank of Wood appropriately named Rod.

A Plank of Wood appropriately named Rod.

This is when the love interest is so underdeveloped they could be replaced by a plank of wood and it wouldn’t make much difference to the story or romance arc. This can happen generally with poorly written characters but its even worse if that character is supposed to be a love interest. How are we supposed to buy that this person can be loved if they have virtually no personality or redeeming features?

  1. The Karma Love Interest

big bang

Something which frequently appears in sitcoms with a ‘beauty and the geek’ romance. This is where the love interest, usually a female, is an embodiment of all the popular girls who refused to date the geeky guy in high school, making up for what horrible bitches all the girls were to him. Or perhaps it’s a girl who wouldn’t give him the time of day in high school but is now hopelessly in love with him, despite the fact that he hasn’t changed at all. I’m not the only one who felt that Ross and Rachael would just break up again a few years after the grand finale. I don’t even get why they would be interested in the type of girl who made their adolescence a living hell anyway.

It’s unfortunate because it almost implies that guys, no matter how horrible their personalities are, don’t have to try and change themselves but simply wait for girls to come around, stop being bitches, and fall in love with them. Yet if the genders are reversed, the girl will have to drastically change both inside and out to get the guy. Wow, I just made a horrifying revelation…

  1. The Muse
No amount of catchy pop tunes can save this romance.

No amount of catchy pop tunes can save this romance.

Closely linked to the manic pixie dream girl who often has a bit of the muse within her. This is where Person A falls for Person B not so much for who they are but for how they inspire them to create their artworks. Again, it is unfortunate as it is clear there is little basis for the couple to form a relationship and once the artist has finished his project, he can just dump her and find a new muse.

Just as bad is when an artist falls in love with a literal muse, which has been overused to the point of tedium. In fact, while writing this post I got the idea for a short story about a human falling in love with a muse for who they are, not for their artistic inspiration.

  1. The Replacement
'I know I had a crush on The Doctor last week but this is totally fine.'

‘I know I had a crush on The Doctor last week but this is totally fine.’

Often a form of lazy writing when a writer can’t think of what else to do with a character so they just shove in a new love interest for the sake of drama. The object of a character’s affections has just died or decided they’re not interested. What to do, show them getting on with their life? Think of an interesting new story for them? Nah, let’s shoe-horn in another love interest right away.

  1. The Dumbass in Distress
We all know where this is going...

We all know where this is going…

Another old trope which is still discussed a lot, Person A falls for Person B because he saves her, often repeatedly. But if it’s such an outdated story, why does it still keep appearing? Is it because we still see the person being rescued as the reward and believe they should fall in love with the rescuer as thanks? The whole concept of falling for someone because they saved your life makes no sense anyway. Sure they’re probably a good person if they saved someone, but they probably just did that because they saw that person in danger and natural instincts kicked in. It’s really not much to base an entire relationship upon.

  1. The One That Got Away
Don't do what Gatsby does...

Don’t do what Gatsby does…

This is when a would-be-couple is separated for many years then they re-enter each other’s lives again. Either Person A will suddenly fall in love with Person B again despite barely thinking about them for years or will still love them throughout the years not for who they are but for who they were years ago. People change a lot as time goes by so the person they are pining for has probably become a different person than the one they originally fell for. I think it can work if the characters get to know each other all over again and find that they still have things they like about each other, but I don’t think things that happened ten years ago should be the basis for an entire relationship.

  1. The Love Interest…And Not Much Else
I actually love Ygritte but god damn it...

I actually love Ygritte but god damn it…

Sure writers often have to insert characters to serve the role of love interest, but there are too many characters who exist only to be a love interest and have no purpose to exist beyond that. They might not even like or even interact with any other characters in the story because they only have eyes for the protagonist. It is much better for this character to make an impact not only in the romance part of the story but some other aspect of it as well, which doesn’t mean being kidnapped by the villain and used as the reward. Not only will the readers like them much more but they will be a better-rounded and developed character.

 

Are there any other types of love interest which turn you off? What love interests do you want to see more of instead? List them in the comments below!

 

 

Top Seven Horrible Love Stories

10 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, Blog, Common Criticism, musings, romance, shojo, story, writing, writing advice

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

author, backstory, character, character development, female character, love, love interest, love story, male character, manga, novel, novel writer, novel writing, romance, romance writing, story, writer, writing, yaoi

I’ve already written several posts on my blog about tired old romance clichés such as love at first sight or love triangles and how they usually don’t work unless they are handled in the right way by a good writer. I have put together a list of other love stories that I also hate and want to see less of. If you have any of these in your own novel then it might be time for some re-writes.

  1. Love Conquers All…Somehow

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all over stories where the power of love wins through despite all odds. But when the day is saved with no explanation other than ‘its true love’, or if this is the only justification for a couple getting together, that’s just lazy writing.

  1. Love Cures All Tragic Backstories
Dead girlfriend? What dead girlfriend?

Dead girlfriend? What dead girlfriend?

Not to mention all phobias and mental illnesses. A supportive partner can help somebody to deal with these issues but they can’t make them magically go away completely. It is much better to see a love interest helping someone learn to live with whatever troubles them rather than making them forget about it completely and live in a world of sunshine and flowers.

  1. Hate Turns to Love

Once again, I feel this is a plot which can kind of work if it is done in just the right way, but it is rare to see it pulled off successfully. There needs to be a legitimate reason why the couple stops hating each other and begins to like each other but many stories skip straight over this necessary development. Most of the time, I feel like it is a way to draw out unnecessary conflict.

  1. He Was a Boy, She Was a Girl

This is the idea that a boy and a girl are going to be romantically involved only because they appear in a story together. Especially horrible is when the only female character in the whole story is expected to get together with the male hero, no matter how badly suited they are to each other. Just because centuries of outdated storytelling says that the woman is expected to be the love interest, it doesn’t mean that she should be.

  1. The Only Two Gays in the Universe

Or the fictional universe at least. This is a version of the above mentioned trope when the token gay character gets together or at least flirts with the only other gay character in the story. They’re gay so they have to like each other, right? Even if being gay cuts down the number of potential love interests for them, that doesn’t mean they have to hook up with somebody just because their sexualities happen to match up.

  1. The Yaoi Principle
'But you both thought you were straight ten minutes ago!'

‘But you both thought you were straight ten minutes ago!’

I call it this because it seems to show up a lot in yaoi manga, but it appears in other media too. This is when a guy falls in love with another guy (or a girl for another girl, but it is usually the male example) despite having no prior attraction to any other men. There’s nothing technically wrong with this because sexuality is a complex thing and apparently it can happen in real life. I know a few women who I would happily throw away my heterosexuality for. But these stories are never about the guy coming to terms with being bisexual or labelling himself as such. It’s still ‘I’m in love with a man but I’m still technically straight so it’s all ok. No need to panic, Middle America!’ It is starting to dwindle even in yaoi manga but still crops up far too much for my liking.

  1. Give Up the Dream Job For Love

Usually tied in to the ‘chasing someone through the airport’ ending, which I have also put on my list of clichés which really must die. I hate it when a woman (yes, it’s still always a woman) gives up a dream job which most people would kill for and which she’s been working hard on for years for the sake of love. Too many writers still haven’t realised that settling down isn’t the ideal ending for every woman or the end of her career goals.

 

What love stories or romance tropes do you think are overdone or should never have existed to begin with? Which are most likely to turn you completely off of a love story?

Manga Review: Fruits Basket Another

05 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, art, Blog, internet, manga review, musings, romance, series review, shojo, story

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

fruits basket, fruits basket another, haru sohma, kyo sohma, manga, manga review, natsuki takaya, review, shigure sohma, tohru honda, tokyopop, yuki sohma

fb another

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya, the story of a teenage orphan who becomes involved with the reincarnated spirits of the Chinese zodiac, was one of the most influential manga and anime series of my late teen and university years and remains one of my favourite titles ten years later. It was so popular in the west that the end of its print run is probably one of the reasons why Tokyopop closed down. A few months ago it was announced that Takaya was releasing a sequel series online with the same setting but a new cast so of course I was excited. But do we really need another Fruits Basket or is Takaya trying to cash in on her former glory?

The story starts with Sawa Mitoma, a high school girl who purposely avoids interaction with others because she fears she is nothing but a bother. Her mother constantly leaves the house without telling her where she’s going or paying the rent, leaving Sawa to be shouted at by the landlady. After one such occasion makes her late for school and gets her in trouble with a teacher, she is ‘saved’ by a cute boy named Musuki Sohma, a member of the same Sohma clan from the original Fruits Basket. Musuki asks Sawa to go to the student council room after school, where she meets Hajime, another member of the Sohma family…By accidently stepping on his face.

After a few more brief encounters, Musuki announces that Sawa is to be a representative on the student council and all of a sudden the girl who avoided everyone is the talk of the entire school.

There are some instant and noticeable parallels with the story of Fruits Basket. The two Sohma boys are obvious copies of Yuki and Kyo, they might even be their sons, indicating that this is going to be another love triangle story. It already seems that the Kyo clone is going to be the winning love interest. I’m a little disappointed as when I was originally reading Fruits Basket, I shipped Tohru and Yuki for the longest time and thought it would be nice if ‘Yuki’ could be the winner this time. Then again, the Yuki clone is somewhat creepy and forced Sawa into the student council without asking her. Perhaps he is actually Shigure’s son.

I’m also pissed that out of all the five billion characters in Fruits Basket, the only one to make a cameo is Makoto Takei, the obnoxious leader of the student council. The one who Haru showed his… special area to. (It took me years to understand that joke!)

Sawa, like Tohru, is a cute yet plain girl in a criminally short skirt. The big difference I see between her and Tohru is that despite being an orphan and living in the woods, Tohru initially seemed to be endlessly cheerful and optimistic. As the story progressed, it became evident that this was just a mask to deal with her crippling emotional issues. Sawa’s issues are clear from the start, even the cover image spells it out. This made me emphasise with her a lot, especially when the stress gets to her and she starts to cry in public without meaning to, lamenting how she is constantly disappointed in herself. I hate to think what suddenly becoming the centre of attention at school is going to do to her already fragile emotional state.

The artwork and character designs are as adorable as I remember and there is the style of humour that Fruits Basket was known for, especially the face stepping incident. Did the Kyo clone get a good look up her skirt when that happened?

This sequel shows good potential to be just as good as its predecessor and we do know that Takaya is talented enough to pull it off. I do want to find out how Sawa is going to deal with her issues and why she is so important to the Sohmas. It will still take a little longer to see if the series progresses into a worthy successor so I’ll keep reading to see if that happens.

Top Seven Signs of Good Writing

01 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Jessica Wood in Common Criticism, culture, fairy tale, fantasy, film, musings, story, writing, writing advice

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

backstory, creative writing, exposition, good storytelling, good writing, novel, novel writing, storytelling, the hobbit, villain, worldbuilding, writing, writing advice, writing tips

Last time I talked about the warning signs of bad writing, so I thought it only fair that I also talk about the signs of good writing. It’s much more difficult to define, as ‘good’ writing is subjective and it isn’t always possible to identify why we find something enjoyable. Years of Hollywood films and creepy book fads has also taught us that what is good isn’t necessarily the same as what is popular or financially successful. Still, these are the things I’ve discovered which set great novelists apart:

  1. Exposition done right.

Exposition is one of the hardest things for writers to learn. It is far too easy to dump all of your worldbuilding into the novel all at once or forget about it completely. Writers who can figure out the right balance are amongst the most skilled.

  1. Something unique.

No novel can be 100% original, unless you want an incomprehensible avant-garde mess, but all of the best novels contain something that is different from the rest. It doesn’t matter if it’s a relationship, a setting, or a little seen perspective. If the book can beat a reader’s expectations in a good way then it is doing something right.

  1. Diverse cast.

Most authors and publishers are beginning to wake up to the issue of diversity in fiction (or lack thereof), but there is still a long way to go. For many writers it still means shoehorning in a black side character then not knowing what to do with them and killing them off about a third of the way through. This is why there is nothing more refreshing than an author who accurately and sympathetically portrays a diverse cast of characters fitting for the novel’s setting.

  1. Villains with backstory.

And by backstory, I mean more than just ‘tragic past’ or ‘they were created evil’. I often think that a story is only as good as its villain and a good villain is more than just a guy sitting on his black throne laughing about how evil he is and how much he loves suffering. If we can find out why they are bad, why they genuinely think that what they are doing is right, and how they react when everything they’ve been working for is ruined then that alone makes for a great story.

  1. Active characters.
PrincessAuroraSleeps

For God’s sake Aurora, get off your lazy ass and do something!

I’ve talked before about characters who exist in a story only to have things happen to them and not actively take charge of their own story. One of Pixar’s rules of storytelling is ‘Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.’ Stories need characters who will use their own skills, experiences, and qualities to make something happen and cause their own happy ending, not sit around and wait for somebody to do it for them. These characters gain much more sympathy than characters who just drift from scene to scene barely doing anything.

  1. Actions have consequences.

DSCF3529

Everything that your characters do or experience in the story must have some kind of reaction or consequence, be it positive or negative. The reason The Hobbit has remained a beloved story for 60 years and made a killing in the box office is that it isn’t a standard ‘Go on quest, defeat dragon, get gold’ story. Thorin Oakenshield goes across Middle Earth pissing off just about every person he meets and has to meet the consequences of this later on when he almost dooms the kingdom he’s been working so hard to retake. Almost everything that Bilbo and company encounter on their journey comes together in the climactic battle.

  1. The story leaves you with something.

This doesn’t have to mean a tacked on last minute lesson or moral. Whether it is an emotion, a memorable character, or just the feeling of a really good story, the novel should leave the reader with something other than just the thought ‘is that it?’

 

While I was putting together this list, I found out that what I have put here is actually just a small selection of what makes a good story. I wouldn’t be able to list all of them. Most bad novels use the same cut and paste formula as all the others. A great novel can be anything.

Top Six Signs of Bad Writing and How to Avoid Them

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Jessica Wood in Common Criticism, Editing, fantasy, indie, musings, self publishing, story, writing, writing advice

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

book editing, book editor, character, characters, creative writing, dialogue, editing, memoir, novel, novel writing, novel writing tips, plot, writing, writing advice, writing tips

I’ve been editing and reviewing books professionally for a few years now and I can now recognise within the first few pages whether a book is going to be good or not. This doesn’t always mean a book with spelling and grammar errors or unnecessarily long paragraphs. Those are all things that can be fixed during editing. But I do frequently review a book and know that not even the best editor could have made it good or successful. One of my Creative Writing tutors had a nice metaphor for this – You can polish a turd as much as you want but it won’t stop being a turd.

Take for example a book I edited last month for a successful businessman. The book was well structured, had a friendly and conversational tone, and the author clearly knew what he was talking about. I’ve even been using some of the business lessons in his book for my own business. But by the gods, could this man waffle on! Maybe that’s a common thing with business people. The other editors and I had to change almost every other sentence to make the book readable and I had to cut close to 4,000 words of unnecessary padding, sometimes whole paragraphs at a time. But I can still tell that despite the problems it had at the editing stage, the book will still sell well when it is published because of the most important part – the content. If a book has great content then all you need is some editing to polish it.

Sadly, many of the books I see are lacking that crucial element. It is sad when I can recognise the germ of a good idea that would’ve made a great book if it had been written correctly but the author either didn’t have the skills to pull it off or just didn’t care enough to try. Here are some of the most frequent red flags I see so that you can avoid them in your own books:

  1. Stories that go nowhere.

In the book I mentioned above, the author used many of his real life stories to back up his points, which were effective as they gave his book a more personal touch. The trouble with many inspirational memoirs I read is that the stories aren’t structured and any point they are trying to give is unclear. They go on, blend into each other, or just peter out completely.

Similarly, authors often just stop the story completely to go on a long off topic tangent about how they feel about something. These are often hard hitting portrayals of important real life issues, but they don’t belong in the book that the author is writing. If you want to make a point about these issues, then you have to do it in a way that doesn’t take the reader completely out of the story.

  1. Archetypical characters.

Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey (a great writing book, by the way) listed the archetypical characters that make up almost every story; the hero, the herald, the wise old mentor, etc. But these are just the base that make up characters, they also need motivation, traits, backstory, and numerous other things to make up a whole person.

Unfortunately, many authors never go beyond the archetypical stage and just have their stories played out by characters who could be replaced by planks of wood. The women like to drink wine and bitch about their husbands. The men like to go down the pub and say sexist things about their wives. No variation in between, except for the nice, hunky guy who the woman is obviously supposed to have an affair with. Nobody wants to read a story if they aren’t invested in the characters and they won’t be invested unless the characters have something interesting and original about them.

  1. Standard plots.

Not only do bad authors use building block characters, they also use bog standard stories. It is true that all stories are essentially variations of the same basic plots; the quest, the love triangle, rags to riches, etc. But each author approaches these plots in a new way and tries to give it their own unique spin. For instance, the ‘overcoming the dark lord’ plot in Harry Potter is nothing new, but it works because of the engaging characters and unique setting. Lazy authors don’t bother with this and just stick to ‘good versus evil’ or ‘rescue the princess’ or one of the other stories you’ve heard a thousand times before.

  1. Magic power for every problem.

Another crucial detail missing from bad novels is peril. Even when we know that everything will work out fine in the end, we expect to be taken on a roller coaster ride of emotion until we get there and have our expectations questioned a few times along the way. Bad novelists overpower their main heroes and give them an automatic solution to every problem. A wizard always has the right spell or the warrior can defeat any foe. If the characters aren’t challenged even remotely then the novel is boring and there’s no point to reading it.

  1. Dialogue dumps.

This is how dialogue works in normal books:

“I just upgraded my Windows 98 computer to Windows 10.” Said Brad.

“But how?” Russ spluttered his chocolate milk. “Everyone knows that’s impossible.”

“I’m just that good.” Brad replied with a coy smile.

This is how dialogue works in a bad book:

I asked her ‘which boy are you going to pick? We have to solve this love triangle somehow’. She paced the floor and said ‘I don’t know. If only I could be with both of them at once. Is that weird?” And I said ‘No’ and then ‘But you have to pick soon because we have to save the world.’ That’s when the wolverines came.

Which one is easier to read?

  1. Mundane opening.

A novel’s opening is considered the most important part of the entire book and thus the part which the author should focus on the most, and there’s a good reason. Aside from the blurb, it is the first piece of the book that anyone will see, be it a reader or a publisher. A weak opening will make them put your book down and pick up the next one.

It is best not to open your book with something completely mundane – a character waking up and going about their morning routine, the drive home from work, or a lengthy description of the weather while the main character moans that ‘life just isn’t fair!’. These may seem like ideal ways to describe your character’s life, but readers don’t really care about what cereal they have for breakfast, they really want to get to the action.

 

If you have noticed any of these errors in your own writing, don’t despair just yet. You still have time to fix them and improve your craft before you publish your story. Don’t try to put your book out until you have ironed out these issues, otherwise what could have potentially been a great book will fade into obscurity.

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