What Are You Shooting For? Lessons from "The Avengers"

Yesterday evening, I went to see "The Avengers."

Unless you live on Mars, you've probably heard of it. If you're not clear on the plot, here it is:

Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow answer the call to action when Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., initiates a daring, globe-spanning recruitment effort to assemble The Avengers team to defeat an unexpected enemy threatening global safety and security. Despite pulling together the ultimate dream team, Nick Fury and longtime confidant Agent Coulson must find a way to convince the superheroes to work together when the powerful and dangerous Loki gains access to the Cosmic Cube and its unlimited power.

You might be confused. Bored. That's kinda how I generally am regarding this sort of movie. It also brings up an important point for writers: What are you shooting for?

Obviously, the creators of "The Avengers" were shooting to entertain a younger, more male, audience. (Though as the box office has proven, nearly everyone's seen it.)

(FUTURE UPDATE: I’m lol’ing at myself. Superhero flicks generally do appeal more to guys than girls, but the biggest “Avengers” fans usually seem to be girls. Of course, who doesn’t lust after Tom Hiddleston?)

However, the movie's goal was typical for an action movie. Lotsa fighting, romantic elements present but receiving little attention. Some humor and wit, too, especially from Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.)

And cliche moments. One example is when Evil-God-Dude Loki visits Germany and suppresses a crowd outside a theater. As an Evil-God-Dude, he has a staff/sword item to magically force his minions to kneel.

Once everyone's kneeling, Loki lifts the spell and begins to give a grand speech about taking over the world. Naturally, one old man stands up, to give a short line about freedom. Then, just before Loki can evilly extinguish the man's life, Captain America swoops in.

At other times, "The Avengers" just has some faulty psychology. The worst of it arrives as the Avengers battle Loki's forces to protect Manhattan.

At a point in the sequence, Captain America swoops onto a car beside two police officers. He pauses for a moment to deliver evacuation instructions, to which one of the policemen replies: "Why the hell should we follow you?" When C.A. swiftly spins and delivers blows to two of Loki's alien fighters, the policeman also turns and begins to bark C.A.'s directions to bystanding officers.

I cringed a little at that moment. Once again, cliche resistance. But there was something else: the policeman's reaction didn't strike me as natural. Humans are sheep!: if we see a hero/leader giving orders in a terrifying situation, we're going to follow them.

Now, I don't totally want to disparage the movie. (And with Joss Whedon as screenwriter, I'm not sure it was possible for this flick to be truly bad.)

My point is the question I presented at the beginning of the post: What are you shooting for? Because, truthfully, "The Avengers" was quite a good movie. Sure, the who's-more-macho fights got tiring after a while, but there were some pretty funny moments (such as the Hulk pounding Loki against the ground, before he can give another I-am-a-god! speech.) The Black Widow was very cool, and I was interested by her relationship with Hawkeye, though it didn't receive much attention. Plus, the performances weren't terrible: I enjoyed Mark Ruffalo's (as Hulk) in particular.

So what kind of humor do you want to employ in your writing? How much action, romance? Who's your audience?

Just something to consider.

Other weekend news:

1. Loving Marina Diamandis's new album, Electra Heart.
2. Loving "Bridget Jones's Diary." Can't believe I didn't see it before! (It also inspired lots of Colin Firth love.)
3. Also: began to watch the 1995 "Pride & Prejudice" miniseries (feat. Colin Firth)

Who's your audience? Did you see anything over the weekend? 

Put Twitter Down! & Tidbits

If you follow my personal Twitter, you'll know that I went to Point Defiance Zoo over the weekend.

You'll also know that I was taking a lot of pictures and tweeting them.

Now I'm not usually the type to be glued to my phone, but yesterday was an exception. I love going to the zoo - I haven't gone since November last year - and I thought it would be nice to have those tweets up. For that purpose, I don't regret it.

However, I actually took more pictures than I put up, because my phone ran out of battery. I had to switch to my mom's camera - which I really love, I've got to say. But I'm glad my phone died on me for more reason than that.

Technology is a distraction.

It's the truth, plain and simple. It's part of the reason why I've been giving - or not giving - some extreme neglect to my GoodReads and Tumblr.

For that matter, I'm glad for two books I ordered the other day - "The Inside Story" and "The Council of Mirrors" by Michael Buckley. They're books 8 and 9 of his Sisters Grimm series, about two kids who learn that fairytales are real and their characters are living in the girls' home of Ferryport Landing.

I read books 1 through 7 of the series years ago, but I finally picked up 8 and 9 after a conversation with a friend. I enjoyed these last two, but I got more from them than a few hours of entertainment: I got a break from technology. A break from Netflix, a break from TV, a break from the Internet...

Yesterday, after my phone died, I still wanted to post some more tweets. So I took pictures on my mom's camera and began to write down on the back of a receipt what I wanted to say.

Except what began to form wasn't tweets. It was story ideas. And last night, it evolved into the first few paragraphs of a short story.

Guys, this is big business. I've barely been writing this year, and all of a sudden I get a short story idea - but not just an idea. An idea I love.

And here's the thing: showering today, I thought of two more ideas. After taking notes on them for several minutes, I realized I'd enjoy writing them too.

A trip to the zoo, a dead phone, and ideas for three short stories? What's up?!

...

In other news:

1. I loved the "Once Upon a Time" finale (can't wait for season 2!.) But I wanted to marry, intensely, the end of "The Vampire Diaries" season 3. Sure, this year has had its ups and downs... but I frickin' loved that finale!!!

2. I really want to go to Yale. Yeah, crazy, I know... but dreamy. (I love the Harvard campus... but I'm thinking Yale for early decision.)

3. Over the weekend, I was ranting to my mother about America's public education system. Specifically, my Chemistry class, and the age-old question: "The chicken or the egg - did the teachers or students go rotten first?" It's sad, and ironic, since my school's supposed to be among the top in the state - but I really only enjoy one of my classes, Algebra II. And I don't like algebra.

Do you feel more inspired when you're around less tech? Any amazing TV you've been watching? Any general excitements or irritations?

Weekend Lessons; Or, What I Learned from My SAT Prep Course

It's an established fact that my mom borrows techniques from the Tiger Mother. So it's obvious that I'd be forced into taking a Princeton Review SAT prep course.

The class began yesterday, with a diagnostic test. I'll be taking several over the course of the class, all gradually increasing in difficulty. I'm already nervous, and here's why. (You might already have an idea.)

THE ESSAY.

**sinister dum-dum-dum**

If you read proficiently, have a pretty nice vocabulary, and know proper grammar, the writing section of the test can actually be fairly enjoyable (am I a nerd to admit it was fun?) Not including the essay, of course.

The essay. For which you're asked to analyze quotes rooted in analogy and political principles and... The essay for which you're reccommended to use "examples from literature, the arts, science and technology, history, current events, or your own experience or observation."

The essay for which you're given 25 minutes.

So basically I saw the prompt, then the suggestions for examples, and I had a 15-minute blank. No kidding. Peripherally, I watched each of the students surrounding write their essays - I think all of them had finished a page by the time I began. I actually wrote my introduction and first body paragraph, then skipped to the conclusion. I was having a near heart attack.

So I definitely can't speedwrite. In other news...

Once the miniature torture session had ended, we moved onto some math, grammar, and vocabulary. And, as usual, I found something I read from the "analyze this section" quite interesting.

Basically, the passage was about scientifically using linguistic information to determine the identity of a writer, lifted from a book published in 2000. It didn't give the name, but I wanted to share this:

But none of us can easily change our basic vocabulary, our personal store of available words. Human beings, in that respect, are the prisoners of their own language. We write from within a repertoire in which certain thoughts and words and spellings are available to us while others are not.

 The idea isn't especially new. My English class actually discussed this a bit at the beginning of the year, as we covered 1984, with the government attempting to crush the language and leave citizens with extremely limited vocabularies - without the words to express their doubts, eventually unable to even conceive of rebellion.

When I read this, my thoughts actually went into a different direction. It gave me a hopeful thought, in the midst of my rattledness: that no matter the lack of progress I make, I'm still able to say things no one is able to, because of the way in which I express them. The details I choose to add. Even if I'm not certain of my point (and I'm certainly not an articulate speaker) - I can write it out, give it time, and eventually the right words will come. I don't care if this is actually how it works, it's something I choose to believe in.

So that's that. Phew! And I haven't even mentioned *grinning like an idiot* that I wrote 655 words last night, and I think I could make it a daily routine, and after 100 days I'd...

Time to end the post? I agree. I'll just leave you by saying I'm pretty excited about the copy of Dante's Inferno I just picked up. Cool illustrations, from Hieronymus Bosch to Last Judgement depictions from the Renaissance  to some Gustave Doré engravings.

Have you also been rattled by the SAT essay? Any thoughts on the quote? Cool literary editions you've picked up?

Progress Report / On Conflict

by Chris Robley

I've been busy today, what with working on a piñata and attending a charity walk, so this won't be a proper post - just a bit about my recent writing progress.

It just occurred to me that I've never really talked about my WiP on the blog. If I had the plot developed, I might discuss it, but I'm nowhere near that stage yet. At this point, I've got the premise, characters, and some mental notes on scenes, but less than 1,000 words. I try to decide on several backstory details every day, and I think this is the best way to approach this story. I want to start from the beginning and see what happens. However, before I get very far, I'll have to do quite a bit of research. (The setting's Paris, 1945.)

My biggest issue with stories is always conflict. I'll create a couple characters I love to death, but there won't be any inherent conflict in the premise. Plausibility, sure. Originality, maybe. Gut emotional appeal, for me. It's not that I hate to torture my characters as much as I hate to give them faults. I guess it's because they're so often based on me, and I hate to acknowledge my own faults.

If you've seen my 2010 NaNo badge in the right column, you may be wondering how I managed it. To write a story in a month when I'm so lost in the current WiP. You'll wonder more when I say I've been reshaping the current idea over and over since December 2010 - right after NaNo's end. The current WiP, of course, barely resembles my original ideas, but the truth is I've barely written anything for the project in over a year. I'm finally happy, even proud, of the premise, but the pages are still blank.

Just to confuse you a bit more: I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2010 on October 31st - only hours before it began. Most writers will already have a detailed outline prepared - no one will concoct and write a plot in the same month.

But I did it. The girl who'll take a year to create a decent premise. I wrote a 51,000-word novel in a month, with no preparation beforehand.

The secret? The majority of it was based on my own life. The conflict was easy - my life was full of it. I was angsty, I had questions, and Tumblr for any extra inspiration if necessary. The story was asking to be written, and easy to complete.

So today I was flipping through a few books on the art of the novel. Lately I've been feeling pretty horrible about the prolonged block - and pretty hopeless about my writing. But then, about an hour ago, I had a revelation. It suddenly struck me how I'm going to make my way out of this maze - what direction my story's got to go in.

I began with a list of everything my protagonist wants. Everything she believes in. Then, I began to write ideas for scenes which would undermine those beliefs. Various obstacles she'll have to face before a plot twist and resolution. And I made them various, not just one that escalates.

If you've been reading this thinking, "Well, yes," I'm not surprised. An hour ago, the time of my revelation, this seemed... well, like a revelation. Now that I consider it, I realize it's nothing I haven't been suggested before. It's odd how tired old lessons can just inexplicably click.

I'm not quite sure what lesson I mean to teach. Maybe it's that, no matter how stressed you are about a block, there's hope around the corner. Maybe I gave some helpful advice on plotting, or perhaps you found my story interesting. Or maybe this post is just a challenge to myself, to write this story.

What writing challenges do you face?