tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22799824.post3751655228481871153..comments2023-10-08T08:04:15.430-04:00Comments on Noir Writer: Playing to My StrengthsSteve Allanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16747911304010686713noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22799824.post-89422326143128802232007-06-25T15:24:00.000-04:002007-06-25T15:24:00.000-04:00Great post, Steve! My strength is also in dialog (...Great post, Steve! My strength is also in dialog (because I too wanted to be a screenwriter) and in cool concepts. However, the prose is still a little shaky. <BR/><BR/>I think the biggest problem with my prose is that I currently lack of confidence in my writing style. I am hoping that my upcoming two year stint at Stonecoast will help me to turn that first draft shit into shiny, pretty shinola. :-)Erin Underwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13225161280626421337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22799824.post-47487410271782452512007-06-22T17:06:00.000-04:002007-06-22T17:06:00.000-04:00Action really alludes me. I'd like to set it all o...Action really alludes me. I'd like to set it all offstage and just stick to dialogue and description. Come to think of it, I do.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22799824.post-5672306446498853982007-06-22T11:56:00.000-04:002007-06-22T11:56:00.000-04:00I'm getting better at description. It helped the m...I'm getting better at description. It helped the most when I realized I didn't have to do paragraphs of exposition - just a few choice sentences would do, scattered about, that create atmosphere and/or show character.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure how I do on action. You'll have to let me know. ;) As for dialog, I think I'm actually best at internal monologue! Can you say "boring"?Christa M. Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14384508556022159789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22799824.post-19536971155524598512007-06-22T10:54:00.000-04:002007-06-22T10:54:00.000-04:00I think the reason I can do dialog so well, and th...I think the reason I can do dialog so well, and the reason my prose tends to suck at the beginning, is because I studied screenwriting in high school when I initially wanted to go to USC film school. I read nothing but screenplays. I'd like to try a play at some point.<BR/><BR/>As for action, even though I'm qualified in the eyes of academia to teach writing, I don't exactly know how to instruct someone on how to write action. It just comes to me. Suggestions, and I know some people, especially lit fic folks, who hate using movies as storytelling examples; but I think watching some action movies will be a big help. They don't have to be the best written movies, but just saturate yourself with them. Tony Scott, Kurasawa, Andrew David, Wolfgang Peters, Michael Bay, John McTiernan, Martin Campbell, the Wachowski brothers, the Hughes brothers, Richard Donner, anything written by Shane Black, the Bourne films, Jackie Chan, John Woo - I mean do nothing but watch those movies and see how the characters move and try to translate that on the page. Like a lot of writing excercises, flat out copy whatever it is your watching - write it out so you get the rhythm until you can take those training wheels off. Take what you see on the screen in relation to pacing, especially the editing and try to duplicate it. Other films to check out: anything editing by Stuart Baird. A book to check out is Walter Murch (another editor to watch) called IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE about film editing theory, which talks a lot about pacing and why film cuts make sense to our eyes and brains. I definitely think his theories (or most of them) can apply to writing fiction. That's the best I can do.Steve Allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747911304010686713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22799824.post-759694019516864952007-06-22T10:13:00.000-04:002007-06-22T10:13:00.000-04:00I envy you on being able to do action well. Like y...I envy you on being able to do action well. Like you, I do dialogue well and tend to play that up (have you ever tried playwrighting by the way??)and I'm good with scene and character descriptions, but I SUCK at action and it is a vital part of our genre. Any tips?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com