Tropes and cliches

In today's world it is very hard if not impossible, to actually create something completely original (and worth watching). I red somewhere (don't remember where exactly, though) a phrase that really struck home with me, leaving a huge impression : "Every story possible has been told at least a thousand times. The point isn't telling something new - that's impossible. The point is telling it better than the other thousand guys.". Honestly? I find this largely true. Just look  at movies, books, comics, etc.... How often do you see anything new? Don't answer that - it's a very rare occasion. Very, very rare.

OK, you have an idea. Sadly I'm about 90% sure that somewhere, someone has the same thought as you . So what IS your job as an author then? Why, doing it better than the other guy of course! And to do that you need something more than a good story, more than good, fleshed out, believable characters, more than good overall writing (you do need all of them, though) - you need to know your tropes. What is a trope you ask? Well in short (taken form the great site tvtropes.org - more on it in a sec) :

Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not cliches. The word cliched means "stereotyped and trite." In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them.
Using, playing with and averting tropes is a very important skill - one valuable for every author I can imagine. It gives you the tools you need to play with your readers expectations, avoid cliches and make an overall better story.

Free advertising time! I took the liberty of quoting tvtropes.org - a great wiki type site that deals with exactly this - tropes in fiction. It is a huge time sink - but in a good way! It's very amusing and informative - honestly I don't know why anybody who has any interest in fiction wouldn't read it. I'm sure you'll find it very useful.


P.S. Sorry for the radio silence these days guys, but the holidays make fools of us all. I promise I'll make it up to you next year. Meanwhile enjoy what I have, comment if you can - criticism aways accepted. I hope you have the greatest holidays! Cheers.

Writing a review

All of us have an opinion about certain topics and I'm sure most of us like sharing it with the world. But more often than not the world refuses to listen! Why is that? Well it could be that you haven't written your opinion like a review of sorts - after all people tend to pay more attention to statements backed up with fact and smart looking  text. Or, you know, maybe  it's just that no one cares. Whatever, I'm assuming that you need to write a review.

On the Internet there are literally thousands of places where you can watch or read reviews of movies, books, video games, etc. After all everyone who has ever watched or red something knows two things for sure - that he can make a better move/book/video game/whatever and that his opinion about why the film sucked/rocked/was fine is the most important/right in the world. The problem is most people don't actually know how to write and I don't mean how to write a review - I mean basic writing that makes you look at least somewhat smart and interesting to the reader. Most of the reviews I see, out of professional sites that live off of them, tend to be boring to the point of me wanting to kill myself. And that's because writing a review (I'm actually talking about video reviews too since they still have a script. It's just that you need skills in front of the camera to actually do them well too), like any other form of writing has some basic pointers, that you could break, but probably shouldn't.

First of all, something I see way too often, even in professional works - actually seeing the item you will be reviewing. No I don't mean skimming through the movie/game/book. Actually investing the time you need to. You need to know the thing inside and out, otherwise you simply can't review it. Also you should probably go at it at least two times - once as a normal viewer and once as a reviewer. The first time thinking of the enjoyment the work brings you and the second time - about the good and bad technical points of the work. Combine the information you get out of it and use it for the review. Congratulations now you have an opinion backed up by facts.

Now on to the writing itself . You've seen the work you have to. You've made a list of things you want to include in your review. You have your hands on the keyboard. Aaaaaaand stop. When writing a review presentation is key. I'm not even talking about spellchecking and not including obvious mistakes. I'm talking about looking smart. Don't swear. And I mean it, never, ever swear. Be impartial, use good English (or whatever moon language you are writing in). Don't write a TL;DR worthy wall of text, but don't be too brief either. The writing itself, well you can probably do that on your own. Just remember reviews are meant to both give information and be amusing to read.

Another important thing - you are far from the only reviewer on the net. You are not unique, So don't expect medium quality reviews to bring the people in. As cheesy as it sounds, you need to put your mind and heart into your work. People don't like feeling like sheep, they like feeling smart and amused. They want quality. If you provide it you will have a much better chance of actually having people read view your work. Also go back to some of my previous posts about receiving criticism - you need to be good at it to be successful.

Lastly - jokes. I know some people are naturally funny. Other people, like my, aren't. It's aways good having a joke or two in your review, but you have to be damn sure it's funny. Don't try forcing in something that will put of your viewers - if you know you aren't funny it's way better to keep it professional.

And that, my dear readers, is the end of that. These are just general tips, though. In no way do they guarantee you quality or views. They will help you be better though, at least I hope so. Comments and opinions are aways accepted of course. If you need to reach me, please do so on blasphemy43@gmail.com.



P.S. You know what? I'm doing a contest. Send me a written review or a video of a work you have enjoyed in 600-800 words/3-5 minutes. The 3 I like most will get 50$ each by yours truly. The contest starts immediately and will end 2 months from now. Again, you can reach me on blasphemy43@gmail.com

Your characters and why they shouldn't be called Mary Sue

As all aspiring authors know (and every person that has ever read a book, a comic book or anything similar) characters are extremely important. They are a turning stone for every story. You, the author use them to progress the story, explain it, react to it. There is literary no story without characters (even if they aren't human or even alive!). So it is extremely important to be able to create characters that are not only good for your story but also interesting, with realistic traits, reactions and an amusing back story. And I do mean very important. There is nothing sadder than reading a potentially interesting piece that is ruined by boring, bland, Mary Sue-ish characters.

Ok, first things first. When creating a character there are some things you have to consider. You should, before all else, look at your own writing style. Does your story revolve around your character? Or is it the other way around? Or have you found the golden balance between story and character? The answer to that question should tell you how to write your characters. They should always be interesting and fleshed out, there is no doubt in that. You should know them, and know them well - after all you have to know how they react to different situations and conditions. But, when writing a character based story, putting more focus on your characters than the story itself, they should be visibly developed and completely believable in the text itself. Their personality should unfold with the progression of the story. If you are writing a more plot driven piece you can be a little (key word - little) less detailed with your characters, as to not overload your reader with information. Most of the time, especially if the story itself is great, you can get away with decent characters. A balanced story is the hardest to do - you must have exactly the right amount of character development, detail, story progression and complexity. 

Second, believability. I don't know how many times I mentioned it until now, but it is key for a great story. Make your characters human, with developed personalities, flawed, realistic. Even if they are extraordinary, make the reader believe that if he sees them on the street they wouldn't seem all that unreal. This is a good point for me to explain the "Mary Sue" phenomenon. For everyone who knows what it is just pass to the next  paragraph or bare with me. The so called "Mary Sue" characters is very wide spread in fan fiction in works of beginning and amateur authors and sometimes even in the work of professional authors. The character is usually perfect, better than everyone else, without any flaws. They are beautiful, popular, kind, strong and independent. And they are not interesting. I honestly want to weep when I see such a thing. It shows an immature writing style and poor character planning. Both Twilight and Harry Potter (easily the most popular works of my generation) both suffer from "Mary Sue" characters; although in Harry Potter it becomes less prominent as the books go on. But seriously, do not make Mary Sue characters. They are stupid and make you look stupid.

Now, moving on - back story. There are two main points to a good back story - interesting, and if you can manage it, not cliché, events and having it explain the personality of the character. For the first part, you can only rely on your imagination and good sense. Not much to say about it, except one thing - the "dark and troubled past" thing? Don't. It's so boring and stale now, it's not even funny. For the second part of the requirement - think. Think logically. Think about what event would lead to what. I know logical thinking isn't always easy for artistic types, but practice makes perfect, it's going to be extremely useful in the future, I can promise you that!

Well, that's the gist of it. I'm sure there are more points I could elaborate on, but I can't think of anything right now. Feel free to ask any questions on blasphemy43@gmail.com. Cheers!

Publishing on the web. Should you?

That is actually quite the important question and I feel that far too many people fail to address it (and by that I mean practically everyone). In this day and age it is far too easy to publish anything - why, I'm living proof of that! Look at me going on and on about stuff. Who am I? No one cares. This is the internet. It's like a giant playground here. And, like on any other playground, children gather here. YouTube, deviantart, fanfiction.net, hundreds upon thousands of other sites I fail to mention - those are the places where you can show off your work. And that isn't a bad thing - people should have the choice to put themselves in the public eye. But! Being able to do something shouldn't be the same thing as doing it. When deciding to publish something, people ask themselves one of two questions (or both of them!), even if it's on a subconscious level - "Do I like my work?" and/or "Do my friends like my work?". If the answer is yes, then publish you shall! Right? Well, no. No, it isn't.

It's all fine and dandy that you enjoy your work. Actually, it's more than that - it's great! It's good your friends like it too. But, honestly? That doesn't mean anything. Because of people who have zero talent and fail to realize it, the internet is clogged with unfunny, unoriginal and plain bad works.

I guess this sounds harsh. I'm not trying to tell you never to publish anything, ever. In fact, I think you should. But don't expect everyone to find it as good as you do (especially if it isn't, not that you have a real way of knowing that, but whatever). Just... listen to the people who view your stuff. Since they are your audience, the opinion that matters is theirs. Far too many people fail to realize that when 100 people hate what you do and one person enjoys it that does not, in fact, mean that you are a great artist. It means you can find a niche of people who will like your work. But you probably won't. And you will serve as yet another annoyance on the internet.

What I'm really saying is that the freedom of speech (of publishing whatever the hell you want here) that we enjoy has created a monster. A monster made of self-delusion and stupidity. Publish your work, fine, but do it with half a mind that it could be bad. Think of the audience first and of yourself second. And be prepared for negative feedback.

Self importance (the unwarranted kind)

Everyone who has used the internet for a while knows what I'm talking about. Frankly too many people fall prey to the condition. Far, far too many. As soon as most people put something on the net, they lose any ability to properly receive constructive criticism and anything different from praise and adoration. They become aggressive, defensive and general a-holes over the smallest thing.

I don't think that is wise. It's actually quite stupid. Forgetting for a sec that you turn yourself into a giant douchebag, you’re cutting potential ways for improvement. There are many well-meaning people who honestly want to help you make your work better by sharing their opinion. An answer along the lines of "LOL Y U TROLLIN" or "Write/draw/make something yourself if you know so much" are not advisable. Again, you turn people away. Learn from comments, don't get offended by them. Hiding or deleting negative comments is also pretty retarded. It makes you look both desperate for adoration and insecure in both yourself and your work. And we can't have that now, can we?

The bottom line is that people will respect you more if they know that the communication goes both ways. Don't get full of yourself for publishing something and putting yourself out there - you're hardly the only one, you’re probably not unique. Keep your head out of the clouds and look for ways to improve yourself.

And now, the other side. The readers. Or, more generally speaking, the viewers - participate. Smart authors enjoy comments. Try making yourself valuable. Comments like "I loved it!!!1" or "Worst crap I've ever seen" don't help at all. What did you like? What didn't you like? Be helpful. People will be grateful. And it will hopefully help them improve. So in the end, you’re helping yourself. It's a win-win situation, right?

Original content, fan fiction and you

Well, the title is pretty self explanatory. I'm going to talk for fan fiction and original content for a bit. It's not a new topic by a long shot, but I feel the need to say something about it. First things first - I actually enjoy fan fiction. It often aids the development of a more complex and interesting world in a work that I enjoy. It's fun, it's a great pass time and is something that should be generally encouraged. When done properly that is.

Sometimes it isn't, though. For instance the all-time classic of horribleness- "My Immortal", a Harry Potter fan fic that is by far the worst thing to have ever been written (or the best trolling the world has ever seen). Bad grammar, no plot, stupid Mary Sue-ish characters, no continuity - you can find all of these and more in this horrible, horrible piece of work. And sadly a lot of other writers follow in the footsteps of this... "artist".

Granted there are a lot of good fan fic writers out there. Some really, really good ones in fact. But I see fan fiction as training at best. With it you put a limiter on yourself. You put yourself in a cage of preexisting continuity, when if they put their minds to it, they can create something splendidly original. If you can write a good story using someone else's characters then I'm pretty certain you can write a great story using your own. But I guess that's just me, since a lot of writers are, well, afraid to try out their hand at creating something themselves.

Original content sets your imagination free. It lets you create something truly yours, something you can really be proud of. Original content is valuable. And fan fiction is too. But originality should always come first, before any attempt at copying. At least that's what I think. I value original thoughts. Do you?

The general idea

Today, I'm talking about my general idea. And it's quite simple, honestly - to help people put their work out in an age where the internet as a whole is starting to change the way publishing works (or at least it should). To give them an audience and some kind of income to boot. Huh. I guess that IS a bit too general of a statement. Well, to be completely honest, I can't guarantee anything. What I can, though, is provide quality control, editing, constructive criticism and advice and an audience that may or may not be interested in your work. In the end it all comes down to your abilities.

It is my belief that there are a lot of talanted people out there. People who, if given the chance, can and will be successful. And I trust that the success will make them better people. Happier. More balanced. What I want to say, what I really want to get through, is simple - I want to give authors a shot, if they are willing to take it and work for it.. Now having said that, I'll continue with a bit of pleading. I don't know what you think of the idea. I don't know if you care or think it's the stupidest thing ever. Whatever the case seems to be, all I'm asking is this - if you think someone you know will be interested - send him over. Because, honestly, I want to make this work. And for that, before anything else, I need people. Obviously, I can't muster them from thin air. You get the idea.