Film Review: Jupiter Ascending

There are some sci-fi films that take viewers to strange new worlds, but there aren't many at all that take viewers on a roller-coaster ride through a fantastic universe full of intergalactic kingdoms so huge that they make the Earth look puny. In the Watchowskis' latest film, they dive into the staggering possibility that there are interstellar dynasties much larger and older than the Earth, which remains totally oblivious to their ancient schemes.

As expected, the spectacle is huge, lavish, and larger-than-life. Some of the special effects are beautiful, showing incredible spaceships and planetscapes. There are a lot of fights and chases that involve high-speed alien ships, bizarre weaponry, and huge setpieces. As epic as the film is, it still takes the time to pace the characters through their discovery of the larger universe, allowing the plot to unfold at a laid-back pace. Through it all, the film never fully takes itself seriously; there's enough mild humor in the mix to keep the tone upbeat, without being overly silly. It's every bit as much of a fun thrill ride as movies like John Carter, or 1980's Flash Gordon. If that sounds like fun to you, then you'll likely enjoy Jupiter Ascending as well; if not, then don't bother.

The story for Jupiter Ascending is basically a fairy tale set in space, following in the same formula as Cinderella. It also borrows some cues from The Matrix, especially in regards to featuring a main character who discovers that there's a larger truth that everybody else is oblivious to. As various mysteries are solved and the overarching conflict is revealed, the villains' plot proves to be a pretty smart "what if" idea that can stagger the imagination. Unfortunately, these ideas tend to be sidestepped by the characters and the action. I felt the characters were fine for what they were; Jupiter Jones has enough of a backstory and motivation to make her story halfway interesting. However, relating to her and the other characters tends to strain some viewers' abilities, making the experience a hit or a miss.  In the story's efforts to draw out suspense, it goes through several peaks where the main heroine is thrown into peril and has to either fight or be rescued; the repetition of it can be tiresome.

The film looks marvelous, with good photography and editing. The actors seem to get a lot of criticism in this film. I could take or leave Channing Tatum's typical tough-guy wolfman role, but I was fairly enamored by Mila Kunis (although not everybody will enjoy her performance). Other actors can be a hit or a miss, but they all show some color and flair. Writing could be more focused, but the dialogue does carry the signature brand of Watchowski wit, intelligence, and charm. This production boasts pretty good-looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Music is quite bombastic and adventurous.

While not everybody will enjoy this film, I felt it was a perfectly fine piece of adventurous escapism, which taps into the same energy and sense of fun I've always enjoyed in films of the genre. I'd even say that if this film was more serious, it'd be dull. If you're a fan of the genre or directors, this is worth seeing at least once.

4/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Pretty Good | Film: Good)

Film Review: Kingsman: The Secret Service

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." - Ernest Hemingway
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British spies are so cool. They always dress sharp. They act like perfect gentlemen. Every little thing on their persons is some kind of hidden weapon or device. They always defeat the henchmen, save the world from megalomaniac supervillains, and get the girl in the end. With Kingsman, Matthew Vaughn uses the standard British spy movie schtick to distill all the best elements of his previous films: a little bit of the training scenes from X-Men: First Class, a large portion of the ultraviolence and attitude from Kick-Ass, maybe a drop of the hard-hitting drama from Layer Cake, and voila, we have a martini that's far more shaken than stirred.

Even though the film may seem derivative, it's still a total blast from beginning to end. The action is very stylish and incredible; the fight scenes are expertly-choreographed and filmed in a way that shoves it all in your face (in a manner that reminded me much of the way The Raid 2 was staged). As the film progresses, less and less is held back, and the film paints a colorfully brutal picture of the fantasy of being a British spy. A few scenes - the pub fight, the church scene, the fight with the main henchman, and a certain scene involving microchip implants - are incredible on their own and make the movie a must-see for anybody who can handle them.

I thought the story was good and well-told. It wastes little time in establishing a great cast of characters we can relate to and enjoy, going so far as weaving inspiring themes of what being a gentleman really means. The story strikes an excellent pace and it shows exactly everything it needs to for the plot to unfold and reach its incredible climax. It is a very dense and fulfilling tale.

The subtext, unfortunately, is where certain wires are crossed and it can leave some viewers feeling confused. This is a movie that often mocks the conventions of other spy movies (including the original James Bond series), but the film plays out in all the same conventions, making it feel rather hypocritical. Same goes for the violence; the film's shock value should make it appalling, but most of it could be seen as a glorification. Kick-Ass had these same issues as well, but the contrast between tone and content made it more successful at being darkly comedic. With Kingsman, the contrast is not as strong, and it's hard to tell what stance it's supposed to take on these issues.

The film looks sharp, with decent photography and very punchy editing. A few of the action scenes are pretty fast-cut and have some shakey cam, but this is a rare case where I felt the frenetic nature of the scenes worked to the film's advantage. Acting is swell; the whole cast is colorful and enjoyable to watch. There is a ton of unnecessary swearing, but otherwise the script is great. This production uses good-looking sets, props, and costumes. Special effects are sometimes good, sometimes so-so. The soundtrack is great too.

Kingsman is more outlandish than James Bond, gutsier than Jason Bourne, meaner than Jack Bauer. It's also colorful and nutty, a bit like 1998's Avengers, but far more successful at it. What makes it work is that it still has loads of style and action, but still tells a decent story. If you can handle the film's extremities, it's well worth the time.

4.5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Good | Film: Very Good)

Writing: How To Keep Readers Glued to the Page

The last panel I saw at the 2015 SLC Comic Con FanX was "Horror, Mystery, and Thrillers:  How Authors Keep the Story Moving and the Readers Glued to the Page." This session featured authors Jason Anderson, Michael Brent Collings, Larry Correia, J.R. Johansson, Craig Nybo, and J Scott Savage.

Action is not the sole thing that keeps books consistently engrossing.  When it comes to writing scenes that are thrilling, mysterious, or horrifying, you need to rely on other techniques to keep the story moving and readers invested.

The thing that really make these stories great is that they're twisty; when it comes to writing in these genres, writing in a straight line is bad, because it's predictable and dull.  You should still have a good writing philosophy and a clear concept of what's going on, but you also shouldn't go with the first idea (too predictable).  If you can pull off a good level of suspense, you'll stop the reader from skipping over scenes, and you'll be successful in keeping them entertained.  Stories fail if readers are pulled out of the experience, or if the ending has a poor payoff.

One quick and easy way to generate tension is to unsettle your characters, and the readers in turn.  Disorientation and misdirection are the key tools:  if you throw your characters off-balance and trudge them through the worst situations imaginable, readers will be equally thrown off-balance and will want to know what happens next.  I think the best compliments I received as a writer is that the reader always wanted to know what happens next.  If you're struggling in this area, you could place yourself in the situation...literally.  Within reason, it may help you to go out and experience something outside of your comfort zone, so you can write about it and make your characters endure the same thing.

Even if you have to bring the tempo of your story down, you should always keep something going on to keep readers invested.  Conflict must always weave through the story; it's the single most important driving force in any plotline (although some writers can pull off stories without plots, but such stories aren't really thrillers, mysteries, or horror).  What helps keep a conflict rolling are questions; pressing questions about why things are happening or what's really going on can be more immersive than any world-building.  Whenever you have a conflict sequence, you connect from point A to point B and inteweave them to generate questions for both characters and readers.  It's wise to answer some questions as the story goes on; if you delay the answers for too long, or don't answer them at all, readers will get frustrated (look at what happened to that show Lost).  If you answer some questions, you can always open up another one to keep things rolling continuously.  No matter what you do, the responsibility of the answer rests on the authors.  The answers you give don't even have to be the right ones (red herrings), but they should quench the readers' thirst.

When it comes to plotting, you can have multiple plotlines running at once; when one plot has a lull, the other could rise, until both reach the climax and get tied together.  This way, you can juggle many different tensions in a story.  To avoid things becoming too stale, excise scenes that don't contribute to the conflicts; they aren't necessary and will only bore the readers (character-building and other things can co-exist with the plotting).  Better yet, simply don't write those scenes that readers will skip.  Some stories don't even need slow parts; a simple change of direction can work better than a slowdown.  If you're a writer who outlines, you'll have an advantage, because you'll be able to organize the plot in advance.

Your actual writing style also contributes to your story's readability.  Dialogue with texture and personality will keep readers engaged (another compliment I feel proud of, somebody called my writing "textured").  Descriptions should also be interesting (avoid being generic or dull, vary your sentences).

Don't write "sucky people." Readers won't care for the story if everybody in the book is a jerk.  There has to be somebody they can relate to.  I don't think it should even matter if it's the protagonist or antagonist, just as long as the reader finds him/her likable.

Above all, if you're enthusiastic about your writing, it will show in the actual work, and it becomes infectious.  Readers will resonate with it and become enthusiastic themselves.  If you're on a roll and the story's working, you don't even need to know why it's working, just go with it.

Writing: Writing Action

Another panel I attended during the 2015 SLC Comic Con FanX was all about writing action, and was hosted by Larry Correia.  I had to wait, like, six hours between the last panel and this one, but this interested me the most, because crafting action-packed stories is my forte.  I am finding out little by little that there are right and wrong ways to do it, and this discussion pretty much confirmed everything I had learned or considered.

Action exists in books because there's an audience for it.  It engages people.  There's something alluring about extraordinary situations, and if done right, action scenes in writing can captivate a reader just as much as any other kind of text.

They key to action writing is that it needs to flux.  Like a roller coaster ride, the action needs to rise and fall periodically.  If your text is nothing but action, it will get boring really fast, because you set the pacing so high that everything becomes bland, repetitive, or numbing.  Of course, if you have too little action, things will get boring and readers may give up.  If you start with a lot of action and deescalate, you'll have nothing but a downward slope, which may leave readers disappointed.  If you have too slow a build-up, or nothing but build-up, then you'll have an upward slope, which can be tiresome in itself.  You need to balance it all out by having a lot of ups and downs - scenes of action interspaced with slower scenes in-between.

That being said, there are other ways to do this.  Some stories will have more than one plotline running, so while one plot has falling action the other rises, so you have a kind of double-helix plot pattern going, which will be constantly entertaining.  If you do this, you can wrap up all the plot strings together in the end, which gives the climax more oomph and provides a satisfying ending.  One perfect example of this is the movie The Matrix, which had a simultaneous struggle in the virtual world and real world, which were wrapped up all at once in the climax.  On the other hand, if you look at a movie like Olympus Has Fallen, you'll find that there's a bunch of mini-conflicts that pop up and get resolved one after the other; you wind up getting audiences pump up just briefly, but then you cut off the tension; the movie White House Down was far more successful at introducing a number of conflicts and wrapping them all up in the finale. 

Also, keep in mind that you can have a story that's all action, it just can't be the same all the time.  If your characters are always on the move, your plot doesn't have to rise or fall, it can go sideways or diagonally or loop around in other crazy ways.  Stories where one thing leads to another, and there's always some new challenge before the slowdown, can be awesome in their own right.  JRR Tolkein's The Hobbit did this fairly well, with the whole "out of the frying pan and into the fire" theme.  In movies, the movie The Raid is nonstop action, and it is an exhausting experience for most viewers; I personally found it perfectly enthralling, because every new fight scene was something different (they go from fighting in the hall to hiding in a wall to showing bad guys hunting the cops down, and so on).

No matter how you structure your story, it won't mean much if the action drowns out the character-building or plotting.  If your action scenes can be excised from the story without leaving an impact, then it's probably not necessary, and unnecessary action is not the way to go.  Like any other scene, an action scene can be an ample opportunity to reveal something new to the plot, or characters, or even the themes.  There can be intense emotions in the heat of the scene that will give it the necessary weight.  Look at The Empire Strikes Back, and how the famous reveal about Darth Vader occurs right at the climax of the lightsaber duel.  And even though I praise The Raid so much, I have to give the edge to Dredd, which is pretty much the same kind of movie, but has a lot more room for characterization and world-building (not to mention more ups and downs than The Raid, which has a flatter plotline).  On top of that, some scenes can reveal much about the characters; reading The Hunger Games and seeing how Katniss reacts to each new situation reveals much about her character.  Same can be said for classics like Homer's The Odyssey, in which each new episode reveals more heroic traits of Odysseus.

When it comes to actually writing the scenes, you do need to keep your prose just as interesting as everything else.  Things can get boring really fast if you over-describe the action and explain every little move or sensation step-by-step.  An action scenes must not be a checklist or a described storyboard.  From experience, I can affirm that this type of writing is very dry and dull to write, and it is equally dull to read.  At the same time, you shouldn't be skimpy; I'm sure we've all read text that's been so confusing that you have to re-read a paragraph to understand what's happening.  You should explain just enough to understand what's happening in the scene.  If you skimp out on that, it's the literary equivalent to the shakey-cam effect in movies (and I hate too much shakey-cam).  In the end though, your wordiness depends on your target audience and writing style.  Guys like Clive Cussler have pretty lengthy action scenes, but they are brisk and breezy.  JRR Tolkein wrote maybe a few sentences to describe the Battle of the Five Armies in The Hobbit, but he describes the hell out of every rock and tree the characters see in Middle Earth.

There are naturally all different types of action:  you can have gun fights, fist fights, kung-fu, car chases, duels, huge battles, and so much more.  A book that nothing but gun fights would be rather boring.  You have to mix it up, varying your fight scenes, and varying settings so that each scene is something new.  These things can also affect how you block or stage a scene, and it may even have an impact on the plot.

No matter what your action is, you can keep it constantly flowing through the use of tension and suspense.  You do so by using cliffhangers; you can really make the readers keep turning the pages by ending your chapters in cliffhangers.  But you got to be sure to resolve those cliffhangers, so readers don't feel cheated, and you shouldn't do it too often, because then it becomes tiresome or ridiculous.  On top of that, making characters suffer is a necessity; invincible characters are inherently boring, because they have no challenges.  Superman needed Kryptonite, family drama, and really incredible villains to make his stories compelling.  The movie Lucy would have run into this issue with having a character way too overpowered, but I think the film mitigated that issue by making the character fight with her own body, which kept wanting to break down or over-evolve in weird ways.  Whether your characters suffer through an emotional issue, physical defeat, or failure in general, these are perfect ways to keep the plot going and make it weighty; it's always compelling to watch a character stumble and then rise above adversity in the end.

Point of view also factors into action scenes.  The way the action is perceived by your POV protagonist will affect how the scene reads.  However, it is possible to switch POVs if you need to, giving a more well-rounded view of everything.  Using one or multiple POVs can really help in big-scale battles, where one person's POV can help focus on specific aspects, while other POVs can give the bigger picture.  In a huge battle, it's ideal to place the POV character at a vantage point where they can see something incredible, which can therefore be translated to the prose.  If you know your POV characters, you will be able to craft a compelling action scene.

To give your story more creditability, it's ideal to do your research.  If you write about gun battles, you may want to try firing one at a shooting range, to understand how a gun works and how it feels.  Studying swordsmanship and sword fights may help you understand the nuances of a sword duel.  A google search on gun fails or gunshot ballistics can help you understand more about what a gun can do to the human body (which is gruesome, but may be necessary for writing a more realistic action scene).  Like anything, you shouldn't need to be an expert in any of these areas, but you should at least research enough to make it creditable.

When you have your story written out, critiques will help you figure out whether your action scenes are working or not.  If readers get bored too quickly, the action may need to be toned down or re-worked.  Basically, if it does work, you should keep it in; if not, remove it.

It may seem overwhelming, but writing good action scenes is a fine balance that can be really awesome if done right.  I've personally made the mistake of writing too much action or over-describing action, but I've always been cognizant of making the action work with the story to reinforce character and plotting.  It follows after watching a lot of my favorite movies, because in turn, my stories play out like movies in my head.  My favorite books - such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, the works of Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, Ian Fleming, and more - do the same thing in their own ways.  Drawing inspiration from your favorite films and writers can help hone your abilities in writing action, and with the tips described above, you can make it one awesome adventure.

Writing: Overcoming Writer's Block

The third panel I attended at the 2015 Salt Lake City Comic Con FanX focused on how to overcome writer's block:  the dreaded moment in which writers suddenly stop writing and can't get started again.  This discussion was presented by writers Cheree Alsop, Peggy Eddleman, David Powers King, Jared Quan, Nathan Shumate, and Scott William Taylor.

It's inevitably that all writers experience this stressful moment in which they can't seem to get themselves to write any more words.  This happens because of one of two things:  either there's something wrong with you or there's something wrong with your work.

If there's something wrong with you, it may be because you're sick, depressed, or there's something wrong with the environment.  If you try and force yourself to write while you're sick, you may wind up exhausting yourself, keeping you from getting better; it's best to get your bedrest first and get back to writing when you feel better.  Depression may be harder to cure, but it can interfere with your output, and should be addressed.  If you're exhausted but still try and push yourself to write at every waking hour, you may wind up suffering from sleep deprivation, which can also be a huge detriment; be sure to get enough sleep, so you'll have enough energy in the long run to get work done.  If your environment is interfering with your writing habits, you should work to make your work area comfortable and free from distraction.  The block may even be psychological; if you stop calling it a "block" and give it a different word, you may remove the negative connotation of the term "writer's block" and find yourself more motivated to keep writing.

If it's your work that's the problem, it may just be something as simple as back-tracking and changing the way the last few paragraphs are written.  If your story is going in the wrong direction, you will run out of motivation.  You may have written yourself into a corner and need to change the plot a little to put it back on track.  It helps to switch to a different project and then go back to the one that you're stuck on; a little distance can give you a refreshed perspective and allow you to overcome the block.  Thinking outside of the box can help; try to mix your story up by throwing your characters into the worst or most uncomfortable situation, or changing something to mix everything up.

In any project, there's a balance between a story's logic and creativity; an overload in one or the other can cause problems and create blocks.  Learning and research can help achieve a balance.  Brainstorming with others, such as in a writer's group, can help overcome these problems.  If you're an outliner, it's possible to over or underestimate your word count, which can throw you off; the best solution is to not stress about sticking to established wordcounts and write only what you need to.  If everything else absolutely fails, you may have to concede that the story is beyond your current abilities.  If that's the case, you may have to put the story away and revisit it later, when you're good, ready, and more knowledgeable to succeed (I've had to do this on many projects).

One of the biggest mistakes writers (or any artist or bohemian) makes is that they sit around and wait for their inspiration to hit them all at once, as if it is the sole driving force for their writing.  If you did this, nothing will happen; inspiration rarely comes up out of the blue.  One of the writers even said that when it comes to finding a muse, you have to drag her with you kicking and screaming.  Different muses work for different people, so you'll just have to give everything a try to see what inspires you the most.  For me, and many other writers, music can be a source of consistent inspiration, for any number of reasons and effects.  Exercise or outdoors activities may be inspiring for other writers.  Any number of hobbies or activities can be inspiring, so you'll just need to get out there and find your inspiration.

No matter what you do though, the most important thing is to get the first draft pumped out; you shouldn't worry about errors or whether it actually works until the rewriting phase.  You must also be cognizant of what kind of writer you are; professional writers can pump out their works because their livelihoods depend on it, but if you're writing in your free time (like I am), then you shouldn't be compelled to force yourself to write.  Forcing the writing can be worse than not writing at all. because then it becomes passionless and awkward.  Also keep in mind that some people have to write and other people have something to write; don't try to be the writer that you're not, and focus solely on what your goal is.

You might hear somebody say that "plumbers don't get plumbers' block" or "accountants don't get accountants' block." That analogy doesn't really work, because being a plumber or accountant are based on facts and procedures; being a writer is a creative process, which is naturally organic, abstract, and unpredictable.  If your work comes to a standstill, there are a number of things you can do to fix the work or get yourself back on track.  If you make the effort and try some of these tips, you may find yourself inspired and writing again in no time.

Writing: Bad Writing Advice

The second panel I attended during the 2015 Salt Lake City Comic Con FanX was Larry Correia, Jared Quan, Nathan Shumate, Dan Wells, Natalie Whipple, Dan Willis, and Johnny Worthen.  They went through a whole list of writing advice that they've heard throughout their careers, and that advice turned out to be totally baseless.  Chances are that you've heard some of these tips too.  You may have a lot of advice being flung your way, but you need to use your best judgment in determining what's right for your writing.  There really is no right or wrong way to write, and for every rule somebody has, there is a famous author out there who has broken it and got along just fine.  So here are some tips you need to take with a grain of salt:

• Anything that begins with "always" or "never." Any advice that begins with these two words insinuates that there's some kind of unbreakable rule you must adhere to.  In a universe where Cormac McCarthy can write without punctuation marks and William S. Burroughs can write without making any kind of sense, rules are counter-intuitive and runs contrary to artistic merit.
• Write what you know.  If we stuck to this rule, I would be stuck writing about mail delivery.  Wouldn't you love to be able to write about something out of your element, like aliens, or vampires, or magical wizards, or zombies, or war, or ancient history, or spies, or something like that? You should research, certainly, but if we only stuck with what we "know," we wouldn't be able to write much, because there's so much we don't know, and so much we can always find out.
• Kill the dog.  One author explained how he wrote about a woman being tortured to death.  The only thing readers reacted to was the death of a dog.  People love dogs, so don't kill them.
• Do as much research as possible.  You could be doing it for years if that's the case.  If you write a space opera, it will help to study some astrophysics, but you shouldn't have a need to write complex differential equations or anything.  You should research just what you need.
• Quantity does not equal quantity.  That doesn't mean the two are proportional at any level; you can have high quantity and high quality, or vice-versa.  The quantity/quality ratio is most applicable to many things, but not necessarily literature.
• Exclamation points!!! I use exclamation points!!! And you know what?!! They make every sentence sound like I'm yelling!!!
• In thrillers, every sentence should start with "suddenly." I admit that I do this often, but overuse can be tiresome.
• If the first book fails, you're doomed.  There are writers who find success in their second, third, tenth book, or whatever.  If the first book fails, try again.
• Show, don't tell.  You have to tell some things.  If you had to write about a road trip, it would get really boring really fast if you had to "show" every single rest stop they made.  Condense it to some short exposition and get to the good stuff faster.
• Don't back up your work.  I don't know what kind of an idiot would suggest this.  We all know that our work can be endangered by computer failure, hard drive failures, lost thumb drives, or even a gust of wind scattering your hardcopy pages.  Always back up your work, because if the unthinkable happens, you'll have to start all over again.
• Don't be too wordy.  Different readers have different levels of wordiness they enjoy.  Writers like Stephen King and JRR Tolkein are quite wordy, and still enjoy plenty of success.  It's up to you to discover what level of "wordiness" works for you and your readers.
• Don't read outside your genre.  If you don't vary your reading habits, you'll be missing out on potentially insightful reading experiences.  You can learn anything from any book, so don't limit yourself.
• Read outside the genre.  Even though it's good to occasionally read across genres, if you're a genre writer, you should still read within your preferred genre and become familiar with it.
• Change negative reviewers' minds.  You just got to let the readers change their own minds.  Otherwise, you could find yourself in an endless argument with your readers.
• Take out adverbs.  Adverbs add some necessary flavor.  Too much can be gaudy, but none at all can be rather plain and dull.  A fine balance is needed.
• Never use the word "said." Yes, it can be a bit boring if every dialogue tag is simply "he said" or "she said." There is a whole plethora of other descriptive words to use, but an overuse of them can be gaudy and confusing.  It can be especially awkward if you use other verbs, like "he smiled" or "she laughed" in place of a dialogue tag.  How do you smile or laugh out words?
• Only writers can give advice. You shouldn't discount anybody's advice, a reader can give good advice too.

When it comes to taking advice from readers or critics, it's important to know that the person giving the advice might not be from your target audience.  They might have a preconception of what they like to see in books, so they might come out saying that "books should have xyz," but it could be totally irrelevant to your work.  You should beware of anybody wanting to change your work.  There are even famous writers who give bad advice.  What works for them may not work for everybody.  The only people you really need to listen to are readers (within reason) and editors.  If they're being receptive to what's working in your book, leave it in, regardless of what "rules" exist; if it doesn't work, then remove or change it.  It's as simple as that; any advice or writing rule can be broken and has been broken by successful writers.  Above all, you need to listen to your own heart to figure out what the best choices are to make your work the best it can be.

Writing: Finding an Audience

When I attended the 2015 Comic Con FanX, the first panel I attended was hosted by Tracy Hickman.  The panel was entitled "First, A Writer Needs an Audience," and the discussion focused on the importance and possible ways a writer can connect to his or her target audience.

Publishing a book these days is not what it used to be.  The traditional model of publishing (which entailed either submitting work to a publisher or editor, signing a contract, getting your work edited and sold, and a percentage of income is taken out for all parties involved) has been vastly diminished since the major economic collapse of 2008, leaving only "The Big 5" as viable options for the old-school publishing house experience.  Because these companies want to protect their investments tightly, they will not accept submissions on chance alone.  They will bank on the sure thing, and thus, they will pick projects via a committee to find that's most marketable, rather than the discretion of individual editors.  Thus, the Big 5 will surely publish the standard, run-of-the-mill thrillers or YA fiction that we see all the time, but they won't necessarily take a chance on any bold or unusual forms of literature.  On top of that, physical bookstores are disappearing all the time.

Nowadays, it's possible for anybody to publish, via e-books.  But, being published doesn't automatically make you a professional.  It's no longer important to be published; it's important to be read.  The experience of reading the words is what's important; the physical book is merely a souvenir of the experience.

This is ultimately similar to what happened to movies when television was invented.  Throughout the 30s and 40s, movie studios used to own everything:  writers, directors, actors, sets, marketing, and even the theaters themselves.  They had total control over an entire production, but when the 50s rolled around, they started to suffer financially because TV made quality programming more accessible, and less people went to the cinemas.  Movie companies had to pump out a lot of fluff in the 50s - especially in regards to musicals and sci-fi pictures - but it wasn't until the late 60s and 70s that studios finally wised up and decided to finance movies, rather than make them.  They relied on individual productions to create the product.

Writing books is now the same:  you, the writer, will have to become an independent producer of your own work.  Some viable options for getting yourself published now are:

• E-book publishing via Amazon or some other company:  anybody can do it, but you will need to edit your work extensively (freelance editors may help) and find your own cover art.
• Vanity publishing:  expensive and provides small distribution, last time I saw.
• Regional publishing:  may be limited to specific regions, but it should be easier to get accepted.
• Group up with other authors and sell your work together.

You can also create and host your own publishing company.  If you host your own website that enables Paypal payments (a combination of sites and components like Wordpress, Blue Host, S2 Member, and Pintrest), with help from Kickstarter, you can sell your own work.

When it comes to selling e-books, writers have control of the price.  In the traditional model, advance copies were pricier, but limited in number; hardbacks were more affordable, but still more expensive and less available; paperbacks were widely available and cheap.  In the new model, the effect is the opposite:  free material is everywhere; e-books are plentiful, cheap, but more expensive than free stuff; paperbacks are limited and cost more; exclusive editions are super-limited and much more expensive.  Thus, having a low price and high availability will allow you to snag a lot of readers.  But you don't want to give it all away for free; if you don't charge anything, you should at least snag some contact information so you can spread a newsletter.  Newsletters and e-mails can enable you to find more readers and spread word of your work, in addition to social media.

Those are the key points that I remember the most from this session.  It has become clear to me that traditional publishing houses are antiquated; anybody can publish in any number of other ways.  Above all, gaining readership ensures success and longevity, and you can do so by making your work widely available, inexpensive, and through self-promotion.

Travel: Salt Lake City Comic-Con Fan Experience 2015

Ever since its first run in 2013, it seems like Comic Con has been all the rage in Salt Lake City.  So much so that they decided to host the convention twice a year now.  While the primary event will still be held in the late summer or early fall, SLC hosts a Comic Con in the springtime, and is known as the Fan Experience (or FanX).  The difference between the two is rather slight; the FanX event seems to carry over a lot of the same attractions, vendors, panels, and stars as the regular Comic Con, only FanX is said to include more in the world of sports, wrestling, music, live entertainment, and more.

This is the place...

This year, the convention ran from January 29th to the 31st, and I had the good fortune to receive a multipass from a good friend who was unable to attend.  Last time I went, I took the train to the city (from Thanksgiving Point to SLC, it takes about 40 minutes).  I decided to just suck it up and drive this time; I found that the parking lot next to the courthouse is perfectly viable, since it's cheap ($4 for the whole day), and within walking distance of most everything downtown.  The only major problem is that it can fill up substantially when a major event like Comic Con goes on.

This is the car...

As before, the convention center was quite congested with huge swarms of people, most of which were dressed up in all manner of outfits.  I must have seen more than 20 Harley Quinns all over the place.  I spotted quite a few Jokers, Batmen, and Poison Ivys around.  Probably saw a Bane somewhere.  There were plenty of stormtroopers, clone troopers, and Mandalorians around.  Saw a few Darth Vaders.  Saw a guy dressed as Dr. Horrible taking his photo next to Vader.  Saw a rather tall Chewbacca.  Somebody even came dressed as the AT-ST (you know, the Chicken Walker, with a little Chewie sticking out of the top hatch).  A few ladies came dressed as Elsa from Frozen.  One was dressed as Maleficent.  One, I'm pretty sure was Chun-Li from Street Fighter.  One was Captain America (yep, a lady Captain America).  And one had the famous bikini outfit Princess Leia had in Return of the Jedi.  To say nothing of the bajillion anime characters represented (of which I couldn't recognize many, but at least I identified Ichigo from Bleach and Edward from Full Metal Alchemist).  A few of the vending stalls featured some unique sights, including the original Batmobile from the 60s, the DeLorean from Back to the Future, the jeep from Jurassic Park, Jawas, droids, Ghostbusters, and a number of paramilitary dudes with Umbrella logos (from Resident Evil).  One of the cutest moments occurred when a few little kids ran up to the Umbrella soldiers with little toy guns and started shooting at them; one of the soldiers swung his massive minigun over and the barrel rotated.

Individual stalls presented a huge wealth of merchandise to peruse and buy, including loads of comics, graphic novels, artwork, cards (primarily trading cards or Magic:  The Gathering, but to my surprise, I found some of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game there too; that's a game I used to collect from quite a bit as a kid), notebooks, tablet covers, books, movie posters, weapons, costumes, and various pieces of merchandise (including lanyards, buttons, badges, pins, decals, shirts, and more).  They even had a stall selling fudge.  I picked up a number of items all over the place, including a shirt with the Weyland-Yutani logo (from Alien), artwork by Jason Oakes (which is notably splotchy and artsy-looking, but I think it has exceptional detail and color; I got a print of Darth Vader and the starship Voyager from him), a Bioshock:  Infinite poster, a compendium of Witchblade comics (issues 1 - 50 in one huge book), and various other stuff.

This is it...

There were celebrities present, although I personally never had an interest in meeting them or paying for a photo op.  The biggest celebrities to visit this time would have included Carrie Fischer, Lena Headey, Nichelle Nichols, and a few other recognizable faces.  There is only one celebrity I actually got to see in the flesh, and that was Christopher Lloyd, who hung around the BTTF DeLorean, and loads of people lined up for a photo op.  Unfortunately, he had left by the time I got there.  But, this is still my first-ever celebrity sighting, and he looked like a friendly fellow.

My biggest prerogative for this trip, however, were the panels.  I specifically went to see a number of panels about writing, presented by a large number of published writers.  Among them, Larry Correia seemed to steal the show repeatedly, for he is a pretty loud and friendly guy.  Above all, Larry's sensibilities seemed to match my own, and now I'm curious to read his books and see what I can learn from him.  Other writers present include Jared Quan, Nathan Shumate, Dan Wells, Natalie Whipple, Dan Willis, Cheree Alsop, Peggy Eddleman, David Powers King, JR Johansson, Craig Nybo, and J Scott Savage.  The topics specifically discussed were:

• "First, A Writer Needs an Audience," which discussed the current state of the publication business, and how writers today can take advantage of the changing marketplace to find a target audience and be successful.  It is quite an informative session.
• "Bad Writing Advice," where the writers talked about all the advice they've heard that's just plain terrible and should be ignored.  It proved to be quite amusing, as well as informative.  There is indeed advice writers should ignore.
• "Overcoming Writer's Block," which is self explanatory.  I may have known some of these tips before, but it's inspiring to hear how other writers struggle, and how they work past their blocks.
• "Writing Action," in which Larry Correia talked all about how to effectively write action scenes and make it work.  It pretty much confirmed all my thoughts and feelings about the subject (and affirmed that my own work needs some overhaul).
• "Horror, Mystery, and Thrillers: How Authors Keep the Story Moving and the Readers Glued to the Page," just like it says, the writers talked about how they structure their stories and writing to keep the readers turning the pages.  It's fairly informative.

There was a panel for "Equality in Writing," but it was so late in the evening that I became thoroughly exhausted and didn't want to stick around for it.  Seriously, I had to wait six hours between the first and second panel that day, so hours and hours of walking around took its toll.  While waiting for one of the later panels, I also sat in on a Star Wars mythology panel, but it seemed rather dry and unengaging (a number of people walked out).  Fortunately, all of the writing panels I attended felt informative, fun, and worthwhile.  I'll even plan on blogging about what I've learned soon.

Out of the three days this event raged on, I spent only two days there, but for a grand total of ten hours or so, I felt I had seen everything I wanted to, bought more than I needed to, and saw more than I could expect (despite having seen it once back in 2013).  It has been a great experience this time around, and if anybody is considering attending, it's definitely encouraged, as long as you can withstand the crowds.

Move along...