rambly on writing
Jun. 26th, 2007 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI keep on meaning to write fiction, but it hasn't happened for a solid year now. That's sort of disturbing.
I write essays. And do reading for college. My pulling-things-apart brain is doing plenty of good work.
It's just my putting-things-together brain that... mostly hasn't been awake.
The MarySue Epic of Doom that writes itself while I attempt sleep keeps on rolling on. I keep on ending up Queen of the Universe / Head of Torchwood 1 / Mother of millions (that other people get the honor of raising), and as of last week I've spent much time on how to get the Doctor and the Master back together, mostly focused on the idea of giving the Master something constructive to kill. I imagine he'd function quite well in a war. Especially if he didn't have a choice about which side to be on.
The trouble with that epic is if I ever wrote any of it it would be reallyreally bad.
My plot bunnies seem to have mostly hopped off and gone to sleep in the sun. At least I hope they're sleeping.
The RFJ story I want to write is still in my head, but it hasn't grabbed me. I think the thing where I haven't watched Buffy recently is a big problem there.
Doctor Who and Torchwood live in my head, but not in a writeable form. The bunnies went on hold until the new canon was in. Maybe after the weekend there will be a population explosion.
I have a ton of DVDs to watch. About a three foot tall stack of them, maybe taller. The complete Star Trek the Next Generation, a couple of seasons of Stargate, some Slings and Arrows, a few Doctor Who I haven't gotten to yet, a bunch of films and probably some other stuff. I think if I sit down and watch it all it will be college time already. But if I don't they'll never get watched. There's still some in the picked them up for a pound category that have been sitting there for... well, could well be years. Long and long.
If all my input is for stuff that I don't want to write I guess it isn't surprising I don't write.
But if I watch the stuff I do want to write I'm rewatching old stuff again and not making a dent in the stacks.
I'm reading bits of books, but not doing proper reading for class.
My college log on refuses to work.
I can't even find the instructions for the UEA logon.
That really needs fixing.
I need to get up to the UEA and learn how to use journals and stuff.
Mostly my wanting to wandered off.
The more I read about TV writing the less it seems like it's for me. And the book I've got is very much about how to get into the business, but doesn't have much nice stuff to say about studying film or writing only for shows you like. Apparently if you write spec scripts for shows you like those are the shows that won't read them and you'll never sell to those shows and you are doomed, doomed! And mostly you have to go make friends in the TV-making-town-of-your-choice and anything else, apparently including talent, is a bit secondary.
Well that's just encouraging.
It's not like I seriously think I'm ever going to write for Doctor Who, but if I were then my plan would be write lots of fanfic, write some in script form, see if they want to buy my scripts and/or stories to make into official product. Except apparently this isn't how it works at all and is in fact exactly how not to. Only that can't be so because I'm pretty sure the current writers got there the fanboy way. Although the ones I can remember the names of also did not-DW as well.
Blah.
How-to-write book says that the best way to learn about scripts is to not go to school and instead get a job reading spec scripts for an agent. Possibly for free.
I'm pretty sure that ain't so. I mean, that could tell you how a bunch of people are doing it, but if there's any flaws in how it's already done then they're just going to go round in a circle. All the stuff in school about the isms and the theory skeletons and suchlike is what you need to figure out how to change things.
But it might well be that the only way to get a job is to not-change things. Which would be rather depressing.
If IRuled the Universe was writing for TV, the main changes I would want to make would be...
Never be able to guess who turns out evil/insane/dead by their ethnic group or other minority status.
All social issues aside it's a horrible cliche. If you can see a cast of a half dozen people and only one of them is brown people then you really really shouldn't have sufficient information to know who the traitor is. There's this thing called suspense that gets completely buggered if you can think "hey, lesbiansubtext! bet she's evil!"
ism based stereotypes just get *boring*.
I would want to write minority characters on a "we also cook" basis. You know, like in that crappy Under Seige thingy where he's the ship's cook but totally kick arse and special ops and all that and he's like "I also cook." So you'd have a character where you write up everything about them that's important, their part in the plot and their strengths and their flaws and all that, and then they're also (gay/minority ethnic/disabled/women/whatever). And, okay, that way around you can end up writing stuff that ignores the also, but at least you start out with a character instead of a minority.
It would also be neat to have more than one of whatever category on a show. I mean it's like how on some comics or TV shows you get a whole range of guys and then The Girl. And since there's only one of The Girl she only ever interacts with men. And that has the unsubtle and annoying effect of making The Girl only *exist* in relation to men. If there are Two Girls then they can at least have conversations with no men in them anywhere.
Watching TW1-11 there was this section that would have made me figure it was written by a guy, even if I hadn't known, because it's the only scene where the two women interact and what do they talk about? Men. Specifically the man they crush on / shag. *facepalm*
... but then I think about the rest of Torchwood and try and think of one other f-f conversation that doesn't fit that. I think we basically get the times Gwen and Suzie talk and the stuff with Tosh and Mary. Tosh and Gwen? Two regulars? ... I'm still trying to think of when they interact.
I kind of want to do something totally random like film a plot-relevant conversation in the foreground and a couple of deaf people chatting in sign language in the background. Possibly making funny comments about Our Heroes. Or something themey. Possibly just existing.
I mean if I can wander through the market place and see this, I should be able to wander around TV and see too.
Not that I can actually understand sign. It would be cool. I like it when they do sign language music videos and dance the words.
Some shows are pretty good at having people be a random mix of ethnicities and genders. Others reallreally not. It would be kind of embarrassing to write for one of those.
I think a lot of the time people just don't see it. I don't think people set out to be whatever-ist, they just don't see it. I probably don't see it a bunch of times too. I think college is really good for showing you things you wouldn't otherwise see.
So, since I'm not boss of the world, I should just write with these here words and make word worlds where this stuff happens.
Any time now.
*nods*
I write essays. And do reading for college. My pulling-things-apart brain is doing plenty of good work.
It's just my putting-things-together brain that... mostly hasn't been awake.
The MarySue Epic of Doom that writes itself while I attempt sleep keeps on rolling on. I keep on ending up Queen of the Universe / Head of Torchwood 1 / Mother of millions (that other people get the honor of raising), and as of last week I've spent much time on how to get the Doctor and the Master back together, mostly focused on the idea of giving the Master something constructive to kill. I imagine he'd function quite well in a war. Especially if he didn't have a choice about which side to be on.
The trouble with that epic is if I ever wrote any of it it would be reallyreally bad.
My plot bunnies seem to have mostly hopped off and gone to sleep in the sun. At least I hope they're sleeping.
The RFJ story I want to write is still in my head, but it hasn't grabbed me. I think the thing where I haven't watched Buffy recently is a big problem there.
Doctor Who and Torchwood live in my head, but not in a writeable form. The bunnies went on hold until the new canon was in. Maybe after the weekend there will be a population explosion.
I have a ton of DVDs to watch. About a three foot tall stack of them, maybe taller. The complete Star Trek the Next Generation, a couple of seasons of Stargate, some Slings and Arrows, a few Doctor Who I haven't gotten to yet, a bunch of films and probably some other stuff. I think if I sit down and watch it all it will be college time already. But if I don't they'll never get watched. There's still some in the picked them up for a pound category that have been sitting there for... well, could well be years. Long and long.
If all my input is for stuff that I don't want to write I guess it isn't surprising I don't write.
But if I watch the stuff I do want to write I'm rewatching old stuff again and not making a dent in the stacks.
I'm reading bits of books, but not doing proper reading for class.
My college log on refuses to work.
I can't even find the instructions for the UEA logon.
That really needs fixing.
I need to get up to the UEA and learn how to use journals and stuff.
Mostly my wanting to wandered off.
The more I read about TV writing the less it seems like it's for me. And the book I've got is very much about how to get into the business, but doesn't have much nice stuff to say about studying film or writing only for shows you like. Apparently if you write spec scripts for shows you like those are the shows that won't read them and you'll never sell to those shows and you are doomed, doomed! And mostly you have to go make friends in the TV-making-town-of-your-choice and anything else, apparently including talent, is a bit secondary.
Well that's just encouraging.
It's not like I seriously think I'm ever going to write for Doctor Who, but if I were then my plan would be write lots of fanfic, write some in script form, see if they want to buy my scripts and/or stories to make into official product. Except apparently this isn't how it works at all and is in fact exactly how not to. Only that can't be so because I'm pretty sure the current writers got there the fanboy way. Although the ones I can remember the names of also did not-DW as well.
Blah.
How-to-write book says that the best way to learn about scripts is to not go to school and instead get a job reading spec scripts for an agent. Possibly for free.
I'm pretty sure that ain't so. I mean, that could tell you how a bunch of people are doing it, but if there's any flaws in how it's already done then they're just going to go round in a circle. All the stuff in school about the isms and the theory skeletons and suchlike is what you need to figure out how to change things.
But it might well be that the only way to get a job is to not-change things. Which would be rather depressing.
If I
Never be able to guess who turns out evil/insane/dead by their ethnic group or other minority status.
All social issues aside it's a horrible cliche. If you can see a cast of a half dozen people and only one of them is brown people then you really really shouldn't have sufficient information to know who the traitor is. There's this thing called suspense that gets completely buggered if you can think "hey, lesbian
ism based stereotypes just get *boring*.
I would want to write minority characters on a "we also cook" basis. You know, like in that crappy Under Seige thingy where he's the ship's cook but totally kick arse and special ops and all that and he's like "I also cook." So you'd have a character where you write up everything about them that's important, their part in the plot and their strengths and their flaws and all that, and then they're also (gay/minority ethnic/disabled/women/whatever). And, okay, that way around you can end up writing stuff that ignores the also, but at least you start out with a character instead of a minority.
It would also be neat to have more than one of whatever category on a show. I mean it's like how on some comics or TV shows you get a whole range of guys and then The Girl. And since there's only one of The Girl she only ever interacts with men. And that has the unsubtle and annoying effect of making The Girl only *exist* in relation to men. If there are Two Girls then they can at least have conversations with no men in them anywhere.
Watching TW1-11 there was this section that would have made me figure it was written by a guy, even if I hadn't known, because it's the only scene where the two women interact and what do they talk about? Men. Specifically the man they crush on / shag. *facepalm*
... but then I think about the rest of Torchwood and try and think of one other f-f conversation that doesn't fit that. I think we basically get the times Gwen and Suzie talk and the stuff with Tosh and Mary. Tosh and Gwen? Two regulars? ... I'm still trying to think of when they interact.
I kind of want to do something totally random like film a plot-relevant conversation in the foreground and a couple of deaf people chatting in sign language in the background. Possibly making funny comments about Our Heroes. Or something themey. Possibly just existing.
I mean if I can wander through the market place and see this, I should be able to wander around TV and see too.
Not that I can actually understand sign. It would be cool. I like it when they do sign language music videos and dance the words.
Some shows are pretty good at having people be a random mix of ethnicities and genders. Others reallreally not. It would be kind of embarrassing to write for one of those.
I think a lot of the time people just don't see it. I don't think people set out to be whatever-ist, they just don't see it. I probably don't see it a bunch of times too. I think college is really good for showing you things you wouldn't otherwise see.
So, since I'm not boss of the world, I should just write with these here words and make word worlds where this stuff happens.
Any time now.
*nods*