charACTer

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Anyone writing stories NEEDS to read the blog post by Chuck Wendig listed below!

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/06/03/just-what-the-humping-heck-is-character-agency-anyway/

Wendig blog

Seriously. Please read this!

His pivotal point: “The story exists because of the character. The character does not exist because of the story.”

Too often, I read screenplays where the protagonist is merely swept along like a bobbing cork on a sea of conflict. They merely REACT to the injustice around them rather than ACT to change it. They are the victim of the story.

To my mind, a much more interesting character is one who takes action when presented with conflict and then deals with the repercussions of that action. In some stories (the best ones to my mind), the protagonist is his or her own worst enemy, bringing conflict upon him or herself.

It is not enough to chase your hero up a tree and then throw rocks at him. He can also catch some of the rocks and throw them back, perhaps hitting innocent bystanders who then turn on him as well.

As a reader and viewer, it is through the actions of your characters that we learn their perspectives, their world views, and thus, their flaws. And if your story has a redemptive angle, it is through the complete failure of this world view and the character’s re-evaluation of it that he or she is reborn.

Just like giving the same premise to 12 writers results in 12 different stories, placing any of 12 different characters into the identical situation with identical opponents will result in 12 different outcomes if the characters are real.

Honour that in your writing and honour your characters.

They are called char-ACT-ers, after all, not char-REACT-ers.

 

Wendig is on Twitter: 

Our story so far…

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Bradbury

It’s been roughly two years since I stepped off the ledge of the normal world and into the free fall of who I am…and perhaps it is not surprising that I am still discovering who that is.

 

For the uninitiated, a brief recap:

After spending the better part of my adult life as a scientist, magazine writer, communications manager and ad copywriter/creative director, I realized I wasn’t happy. Adding fuel to that fire was the death of my beloved grandmother and of my marriage (thankfully not an acrimonious separation). But where I might have let these events take me to darker depths, I realized that I had never been freer in my life…and the freedom felt good.

Thus, with nothing to hold onto and therefore nothing to lose, I stepped into the abyss of uncertainty and am pursuing my life as a storyteller. And nicely, two years in, I am starting to see dividends.

 

After taking screenwriting classes for a while, I now feel confident that I know what I am doing and have no problem trusting my instincts when it comes to storytelling. I’m good at this.

My latest and possibly most commercial screenplay to date, The Naughty List, awaits external validation in 4 different screenplay competitions. (I may be good at this, but my name is hardly renown at this point.)

My first screenplay Tank’s has slowly climbed its way up the “charts” of screenplay competitions over the past year, and after being a Second Rounder at the Austin Film Festival, it took top prize in the Nashville Film Festival as Best Animated Feature Screenplay.

SomeTV!, the sketch comedy show that I co-wrote, is in front of cameras, and I am told by our Producer/God-head that the initial cuts look amazing. You’ll see the footage as soon as I can send you to it.

Eye of the Beholder, the novel I am co-writing with Agah Bahari—based on the real events of his life in Iran—is starting to write itself (a wonderful moment for a writer) and already has anticipatory buzz in New York entertainment circles.

Eye of the Beholder

I wrote a short children’s book, Butch Goes To Work, that teaches children about working dogs and the abilities of people with disabilities. It is currently seeking a publisher.

Really, really slowly (sorry Kevin Scott), I am co-writing a comedy album in the understanding that what doesn’t lend itself to YouTube is perfect fodder for iTunes!

I almost signed an agreement to develop a screenplay treatment of a mystery novel, and even though this project didn’t come to fruition, I will continue to work with the novelist on future projects.

And I am in the process of taking my new life to the next level by moving to Los Angeles. When the move will take place is still a question.

I am grateful to the folks involved in the magazine and advertising work that continues to pay my bills. And I am over-the-top grateful to all of my friends, family and other supporters who applaud my journey at every turn.

I am a storyteller. I tell stories. And I have never been happier.

PS I don’t know if Bradbury actually said the quote at the front of this piece, but he or whomever was right.

Back to the Aquarium – Everybody Else

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And after the sharks, the jelly fish, the rays and the reef, there is all of the other amazing animals at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto.

See also: Shark Tank, Jelly Fish & Friends, Reef Madness and Call Me Ray

And that’s the (mostly) truth – my new bio

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Okay, so my producer for SomeTV!, the sketch comedy insanity currently in production in Toronto, asked me to provide him a short bio for the group’s web site.

Keeping in mind the sheer brilliance/stupidity of what we are attempting, I sent him this:

A born story-teller and punster, Randall told his first knock-knock joke in the Obstetrics Department of a Toronto hospital at the ripe old age of today. His early comedic repertoire consisted of poop jokes, fart jokes and snot jokes, but on learning that Vaudeville was dead, he learned how to write. After several failed attempts at living other people’s lives (scientist, journalist, press agent, ad man), he has more recently focused his energy on sketch comedy and screenwriting. In 2014, Randall won the Nashville Film Festival award for Best Animated Feature for his screenplay Tank’s. His influences are caffeine, Mel Brooks, sleep deprivation and human frailty.

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Randy (the one in the middle)

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Back to the Aquarium – Call me Ray

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Aside from the shark tank, rays also have their own tanks where they rule the roost at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto.

See also: Shark Tank, Jelly Fish & Friends and Reef Madness

Crowds are fickle beasts – Crowd-funding conundrum

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I pledge: To stop whinging about or rolling my eyes at stories about some big film company or Hollywood star using crowd-funding to support their latest endeavours, whether in part or in whole (e.g., Veronica Mars movie, Zach Braff, Corner Gas movie).

Artistic life support

Although many of us probably assumed that crowd-funding was designed to give the little guy or gal a leg up in the pursuit of his or her dream, it is merely a vehicle for fundraising and gauging public interest in projects of any type. Period. Full stop.

Given the potential cash-cow it represents, companies and individuals of all stripes would be foolhardy not to take advantage of this opportunity.

I have heard and have argued that these mega-projects take attention and dollars away from smaller projects that might never otherwise see the light of day. There may be merit in this argument…but I don’t know that it matters.

The crowd-funding companies get a piece of the action, so you know they’re good with the big-ticket projects. They are not charities, despite being used by charities.

If the small independents want an exclusive, altruistic crowd-funding domain then they can start one and make up their own rules for which projects are allowed in and which ones aren’t.

The marketing angle is built in: Stick it to The Man, even if she’s The Woman. (Unless, of course, the crowd-funding site is dedicated to projects led exclusively by women.)

Crowdfunding

(Images are property of owners and are used here without permission because the post office was too crowded.)

Back to the Aquarium – Reef madness

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For its sheer variety of creatures and its rainbow mosaic of colours, the coral reef displays are high on my list when visiting the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto.

See also: Shark Tank and Jelly Fish & Friends

Back to the Aquarium – Jelly fish and friends

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After having fun with the sharks at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto, we moved onto the jelly fish exhibit!

See also: Shark tank

Back to the Aquarium – Shark Tank

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Last Friday, I took my wonderful friend Victoria to the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto, her first time there and my second. And of course, I had my camera along (which means I can only suspect Victoria was there, my face buried in my camera as it was).

Today’s pics are of the tunnel through the shark tank. Other photos will appear over the next several days.

PS I welcome you to check out Victoria’s blog: Victoriously.

In search of fairness

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What if:

Companies gave each employee personal leave of say 6 or 12 months with guaranteed income and the promise that their job would await them at the end of that time period. 

And let’s say the employee could have one of these personal leave periods for every 3 years of employment at the company.

The employee could use that time for travel, to write a novel, to teach monkeys to sing or to raise a newborn child, all without the worry of money or job-security.

That seems fair, doesn’t it?

Guarantee