Category: Opinion

THE FLASH and ARROW: TV Writing at Its Worth?

Tired of hearing all the praise being heaped on the CW’s THE FLASH and ARROW shows? Looking for someone willing to say that the emperor is naked after all? Well, then, pard, you’ve come to the right place. Settle in and enjoy the road less taken…without having to take it at all:

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by Vamien McKalin

Episode 17 of The Flash aired on March 31, and it was a blast from start to finish. This episode proves without a doubt that The Flash is the best superhero show on TV right now, and it is going to take something special to give it the boot.

The episode kicked off with Future Flash and the Reverse Flash breaking the time barrier to return 15 years prior to when Barry got his powers. This is the night the Reverse Flash stabbed Barry’s mother with a knife in an effort to kill the young Mr. Allen. read article

Sorry, Newbies, But if You Want to Write TV You Really, Really, Really need to be in L.A.

And now for a lesson in cognitive dissonance. Or, “Why Should I Accept the Truth When It isn’t What I Want to Hear?”

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More on meetings, why you should be in LA, and industry growth
by The Bitter Script Reader

It’s been interesting seeing the passionate reactions to the post I wrote last week [and which we posted yesterday] about why aspiring writers still need to move to L.A. I honestly didn’t expect quite so passionate a response because I felt like it was a topic that had been covered a number of times. My assumption was that the new followers of this site would take it in, but that most readers would go, “Oh yeah, we’ve had this talk.”

What I didn’t expect was that this would blow up as much as it did on Twitter, to the point that a lot of working writers I follow ended up discussing it – and largely agreeing with it. Even knowing what sometimes happens on Twitter, it was unexpected to see some really aggressive responses spitting venom at those writers for daring to say this. I think that most people who bothered to read the entire article took it to heart, but there is definitely a vocal minority who registered their displeasure with a lot of rage. read article

JOHN OSTRANDER’S WRITING CLASS: NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF PLOT

by John Ostrander

Young_Bilbo_BagginsStory reveals character through action – the plot. There are two primary ways that the plot works: 1) the protagonist initiates the action or 2) the protagonist is thrust into a situation and the plot reveals what happens. In each case, the character’s defenses are stripped away as we get down to who they really are – not who they (or anyone else) think they are. What is important is not what the character says (or anybody else says about them); it’s what they do. It’s what theychoose to do. Their choices define them.

How do we determine what a given character will do in any given situation? It depends on their motivation. It’s not simply what theywant; it’s what they need. It’s not just what they desire; it‘s what theylust for. I may want a pizza, but that’s not strong enough a motivation to drive a story. It may not drive me; I have to get into the car and go pick it up. Or, worse, make my own. How much do I really want that pizza? Maybe it comes down to how good that pizza is. I’d probably go a long way for a deep dish pizza. Mmmmmm. Deep dish pizza! Where was I?

We want something that will drive a character to action and that’s not always easy. Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts upon it, and a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. That’s true in a narrative as well. Maybe we’ll call it Newton’s first law of plot. read article

Peggy Bechko & The Publishing, Writing & Reading Revolution!

revolution-1by Peggy Bechko

Publishing and by extension, writing, are in the throes of a revolution the like of which has not been seen since the invention of the printing press.

Out there is a whole brave new world (or maybe not so brave but undeniably new).  If you’re a writer in nearly any field you can’t have missed the chat, buzz and hair-pulling about the new direction publishing is taking. If you’re a reader (and writers are readers in addition to their writing hats) you can’t have missed the rapid changes; the introduction of electronic readers, the ability to read with smart phones and tablets and of course the old paperback, hardback, newspapers and magazines still fight for their place in the market.

But, as always there’s more than one side to a coin. You’ll read some articles raving about it’s the best time ever to publish, that things are shifting rapidly in favor of the author. After all there’s self-publishing now with Print On Demand and EBooks, along with the traditional publishing paradigm. Things are great, right? Things can only get better and better. read article

MARC ALAN FISHMAN: GOTHAM GETS BETTER

Remember when the GOTHAM TV series was first announced? Comic book fans were all “Oh wow!” about seeing the U.S.’s most crime-riddled city (pre-Batman) on the home screen. The joy turned to angst – a common development when it comes to moving comics from their home turf – and then the bad feelings kind of leveled off. If, like us, you’ve been wondering where GOTHAM stands now, here’s one comics pro’s take:

by Marc Alan Fishman

Gotham-penguinBack in November I lamented that Gotham was a train-wreck with glimmers of hope peaking out amongst the smoldering boxcars abandoned near Arkham Asylum. Well, here we are, a large smattering of episodes later, and I’m starting to change my outlook on Fox’s proto-Batman dramedy. Hear me out, skeptics.

My turn of opinion first peeked its tepid head out into the light when I came to the realization that the show was not, nor would it ever be, Gotham Central by way of Ed Brubaker. The fact is I’ve circled my wagons around the ideology that business and the boardroom will always help dictate the creative endeavors of the Big Two™’s creations. That means that as critically acclaimed a graphic novel may be, at the end of the day all Warner Bros is going to care about is ratings and the potential syndication of Gotham. Hence, the fact that producers are making a show that by-and-large is built to appeal to the widest audience possible by way of brazen continuity-shattering canon-damning characterizations was bound to happen. Or in lesser terms, we were never ever ever going to not get interpretations of Batman’s rogue gallery. So I got over it. read article