16546--The Peer Pressure Your Parents Warned You About

No, I'm not the peer pressure.  I'm on your side. 
I’m the guy who encourages you to be yourself.   I’m sure you’ve heard this bold advice before, but I’m going to throw it out into the ether again.

There are many who will tell you to do as they do or to follow the footsteps of others because their success is something that can be replicated by simply doing whatever they did.   That may work well in certain non-creative areas where an individual’s flair doesn’t show through, but that will only take you to certain places.

In movies and television, this sort of imitation is often attempted to try to capitalize on popular trends.   It’s the allure of the dollars, but that’s what studios are in business for, isn’t it?   I’m not going to fault them for that.   Creative people, in contrast, bear an artistic responsibility to themselves.   If you’re one of them, and you’re the only one who should be making that decision, you need to channel your energies into the directions that are your own.

My family recently attended the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus.   For some of us it was the first time.   For me, it was my fourth “greatest show on Earth.”   My first was when I was seven or maybe eight.   My latest was with a family in-tow, which included two boys I was considering encouraging to runaway with the circus.   I warned my wife I was also open to making a trade arrangement: the boys' weight in peanuts and popcorn in exchange for their shoveling an equivalent amount of elephant droppings, for example.   Once he got wind of this, our youngest was quick to assure us that he had no knowledge of shoveling techniques, ironically demonstrating an innate talent for shoveling crap.

Anyway, what I was getting at was that while we enjoyed the show, it was missing something.   I don’t want to be so harsh as to say it was missing heart, because at least some of the performers did seem to be genuinely enjoying themselves.   The circus has lost its way, though, straying from its particular path.   It seems to be trying to merge itself with elements of Cirque du Soleil.   I enjoy Cirque du Soleil.   I’ve seen several of their shows, also, but it’s a different sort of show.   Little boys don’t runaway to join le cirque.   They’re drawn to the greatest show on Earth.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good show.  It certainly entertained and even had a moment or two of getting a genuine, unprompted rise out of the audience.  The clowns, though, were definitely more cirque than circus and there was no trapeze.  Filling three rings with rope climbers and having a couple of them swing around as though in flight isn’t the same as a free-flying triple back somersault executed thirty feet up and ending in a last-second catch.  They’ve offered busy, diffuse and safe activity over risky, death-defying and dramatic acts.  There were three rings of dancing horses and ponies, but not a single one at full gallop with a rider standing on bareback.   There was playing with tigers, but no leaps through rings of fire.

I really would’ve enjoyed seeing a trio of motorcycle riders racing around each other at top speed inside a steel cage.  That’s alright…I enjoy tumbling gymnasts, too.

I understand.  I do.  It’s a new age and Ringling Brothers, etc. has some serious competition that they didn’t have years ago.  To keep pace with what the audiences have shown they enjoy, the circus has changed its product to chase dollars rather than boldly being all the CIRCUS! it can be and drawing audience dollars to the greatest show.

If you’re a singer, don’t try to sound like whoever is topping the Billboard charts.  If you’re a painter, don’t try to copy Leonardo da Vinci.  If you’re a writer, don’t aim at writing another Harry Potter.  Don’t play to trends that appear to be selling.  That’s pandering.  I think it’s still illegal in most places.

It’s fine to learn the essentials of your craft from those who are already accomplished at it, but you must also find your own style of engaging in that craft or your work will never ring true.  You may find an audience that likes you, but the audience that could love what you do and rave about it will never find you.  Don't blunt your own edge.  Put on your own greatest show.

16536--Some Things Were Not Meant To Be

Any experienced reader can tell you as readily as any writer that the world of books consists of subdivisions of many genres.  A lot of readers spend their time and energy only on a few genres they love.  Most writers, likewise, keep their focus to only a few specific areas.

I feel pretty confident in declaring that romance is not one of my genres, neither as a reader nor a writer.  The only way I even get close to feeling tears flow is to watch Spock die.  They don't start, but I can feel them getting close.  From the writer's side, I really don't lean toward the hot and steamy in my plotting.  I let my characters have that stuff for their time off my clock.  That may not always be the case.  My storytelling style may yet go through many changes over time.

Among the significant changes we are all experiencing in storytelling exists in the form of this simple blog.  Not only can writers reach out and touch all on their own, but readers can respond in kind.  You see, one of the training tools that one of my better creative writing teachers employed was the critique.  His rules were clear and simple: first, praise; then, pan and offer any suggestions for improvement; lastly, whoever wrote what was being critiqued was to sit still and listen quietly. Were we to ever publish, he said, we wouldn’t be able to run around explaining to every reader what we’d meant to say so we should just listen. Now, though, we still may not be able to handle the actual travel, but we can virtually dialogue with every single reader if we’re so motivated and explain our work and gather feedback.

I find that impressive. It wouldn’t necessarily be productive, but it’s still quite a capability.  I feel I will always welcome feedback, though I don't plan on doing much explaining.  That, I don't think was meant to be.

16535--Accessorizing Characters

This is a lot more serious than a mere chat about fashion. I'm not concerned about purses and earrings and scarves being chosen to be just right for your characters, though that sort of thing does carry more gravitas and finality for them than for you.

When you've written and rewritten and settled on just the right item to make the magic flow the way you feel it needs to go, you have to feel confident that you've made the right choices in providing proper expressions of characterization for the characters. There's a tradition to magic rings, for example, that connects them to the soul of the wearer. So, from Gyges in ancient Greece, the rings of power that rocked the realms of Middle Earth or the power rings of the Green Lantern Corps, the choice of jewelry was significant. Middle Earth might not have been so shaken by a Feather Boa of Doom and it certainly would've made the various characters ask themselves some serious questions about their ability to master it. 


"Bow before the...queen!"

Gyges sporting earrings of invisibility wouldn't work to convey the right feel to readers any more than Hal Jordan flying off in a tennis bracelet and Prada shoulder bag to confront cosmic menaces. Granted, for superheroing, it makes about as much sense as the pairing of a ring and lantern (the two being bitter enemies under natural circumstances), but using that ring to create expressions of the hero's will with which to fight evil was an inspired choice. That was an idea that came over time. Originally, Green Lantern's power was just expressed with lots of eerie emerald light...and a smashing purple cape.

Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader needed swords. Jedi and Sith doing battle with rings simply wouldn't feel right either. Even though rings speak to the expression of the characters' essence, they already had a power for that. They needed the contrast of the plasma sword's martial elegance against the use of the Force or else we'd have been watching a lot of stern looks and hand waving.

A character's accessories are important extensions of them whether distinctive clothing or a unique weapon. Warriors should be matched with swift, decisive means of delivering their awesome might (Thor, Conan, Clint Eastwood). Thinkers should have versatile resources through which they can exercise their cleverness (Bond, Batman, Felix the Cat). Passive folk should find themselves with items that are likewise vague and of limited use. Magic slippers come to mind and they are even more passive than magic rings and certainly out of place in a contest of wills and struggles for one's soul. Dorothy Gale did seem awfully light on her feet, though, and maybe Frodo (they're magic, of course they'd fit) could've handled all his walking better with magic shoes instead of that soul-crushing ring. Maybe we could've even gotten in another couple of song and dance numbers.