Things I have learned from...
Jul. 13th, 2007 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabeth... reading/seeing lots of stuff that didn't quite work. And also the DVD commentaries on it.
1) Never, ever dump your beta readers half way through. Really. No matter the time pressure, work produced without the beta (or writing group who fill that function) will not actually be the same as work they've had a look at. And, generally, it will be worse.
2) The sex to plot ratio is important. Alter the ratio and you alter the genre. Not all your readers will follow you.
3) Payoff whatever you setup. Even if you personally don't think it's the main point of the story, some of your readers are sitting there patiently waiting to see what happens next, and if they never do they just won't like it. Plus, you already did the tricky setup work, so don't waste it.
3a) Payoff precisely what you setup. If your payoff is reallyreally cool but actually belongs in another plot and/or genre then you either need a different ending or to rewrite the whole story.
3b) Emotional setup is more important than plot setup. AKA the Blade thing. Maybe you've spent the whole film saying how the vampire god is going to be some kickass monster whirlwind blood storm. You've also spent it *showing* that there's this intense connection-rivalry between two mostly-human-looking characters. If you turn one of the characters into someone/something else before the final fight? You just lost your payoff. Stick to the intense character stuff, ignore the amounts already spent on CGI.
3c) Payoff at the end. Start small and build. If you're going to wrap one plot strand early, some people will lose interest. That means if you think of the action as just a way of getting the romance together you better be really sure your romance readers won't be put off by all that action and your action readers won't be skimming the rest of that boring romance.
3ci) The coolest bit of the movie had better be the payoff. If the cool bits lack setup nobody is waiting for them and you've just wasted the cool. If the cool bits lack consequences they're an ending or an irrelevance. And if the cool bits can be pulled from the movie entirely without a ripple, you probably shouldn't be spending all the money right there.
3cii) Once you've done all the payoff, the story is over. This is probably why everyone goes home, gets medals, and gets married, but they rarely have kids. Because that would be the beginning of a whole other story. It isn't a case of 'happily ever after', it's just if you went one more page complications would once again ensue.
3d) Some things are not payoff to anything. Maybe it's really important to you to show the sidekick gets a promotion after they go home and meet their childhood sweetheart and build a house of their own. Is it important to the story? If not, the book finished already and you just don't want to turn out the lights. If so, all the sidekick fans will kick you if you leave it out. The balance is tricky.
... any more for any more?
I started this thinking about a particular book series that I'm not going back to, then it wandered into movies. The movie stuff I mostly learned from DVD commentaries and deleted scenes because the makers figured it before they released it.
Most useful DVD extras anyone?
Best commentary tracks?
1) Never, ever dump your beta readers half way through. Really. No matter the time pressure, work produced without the beta (or writing group who fill that function) will not actually be the same as work they've had a look at. And, generally, it will be worse.
2) The sex to plot ratio is important. Alter the ratio and you alter the genre. Not all your readers will follow you.
3) Payoff whatever you setup. Even if you personally don't think it's the main point of the story, some of your readers are sitting there patiently waiting to see what happens next, and if they never do they just won't like it. Plus, you already did the tricky setup work, so don't waste it.
3a) Payoff precisely what you setup. If your payoff is reallyreally cool but actually belongs in another plot and/or genre then you either need a different ending or to rewrite the whole story.
3b) Emotional setup is more important than plot setup. AKA the Blade thing. Maybe you've spent the whole film saying how the vampire god is going to be some kickass monster whirlwind blood storm. You've also spent it *showing* that there's this intense connection-rivalry between two mostly-human-looking characters. If you turn one of the characters into someone/something else before the final fight? You just lost your payoff. Stick to the intense character stuff, ignore the amounts already spent on CGI.
3c) Payoff at the end. Start small and build. If you're going to wrap one plot strand early, some people will lose interest. That means if you think of the action as just a way of getting the romance together you better be really sure your romance readers won't be put off by all that action and your action readers won't be skimming the rest of that boring romance.
3ci) The coolest bit of the movie had better be the payoff. If the cool bits lack setup nobody is waiting for them and you've just wasted the cool. If the cool bits lack consequences they're an ending or an irrelevance. And if the cool bits can be pulled from the movie entirely without a ripple, you probably shouldn't be spending all the money right there.
3cii) Once you've done all the payoff, the story is over. This is probably why everyone goes home, gets medals, and gets married, but they rarely have kids. Because that would be the beginning of a whole other story. It isn't a case of 'happily ever after', it's just if you went one more page complications would once again ensue.
3d) Some things are not payoff to anything. Maybe it's really important to you to show the sidekick gets a promotion after they go home and meet their childhood sweetheart and build a house of their own. Is it important to the story? If not, the book finished already and you just don't want to turn out the lights. If so, all the sidekick fans will kick you if you leave it out. The balance is tricky.
... any more for any more?
I started this thinking about a particular book series that I'm not going back to, then it wandered into movies. The movie stuff I mostly learned from DVD commentaries and deleted scenes because the makers figured it before they released it.
Most useful DVD extras anyone?
Best commentary tracks?