The "Well... Crap" Moment

*Spoiler Alert Regarding The Novel What Dreams May Come*

I'm currently reading through What Dreams May Come by the legendary Richard Matheson. At first, I worried about the many pages of exposition used to introduce the afterlife. Then, catching me off guard, Matheson did something very rare:

He forced a tough decision upon his protagonist.

That may not seem so rare at first, but it is when you think about it for a bit. Most of the choices we're presented with in stories may appear tough at first glance, but more often than not, the right decision is obvious. Of course, the protagonist might have to slay a dragon or two in order to rescue his/her beloved, but it's apparent from the onset that this would be the good and right thing to do.

Real life choices, at least in my experience, are rarely so obvious. Many of the difficult decisions to be made are of the "fucked if you do and fucked if you don't" variety, where even inaction could have disastrous consequences. Most of the time we have to just pick one and hope for the best. Think of how many times you've read a story where that happens, or have watched it on TV or a movie. I'd wager that you'd have difficulty remembering enough instances to even count on one hand.

That, to me, is why actual tough choices in fiction -- the "Well... crap" Moment -- are very, very infrequent.

In What Dreams May Come, the main character dies in a horrible accident. Despite entering the afterlife and all the miraculous beauty it has to offer, he can't help but worry about his wife he left on Earth. The other members of the deceased tell him not to be bothered, as she'll join him soon enough, but they are all shocked to learn that, in her infinite grief of her husband's departure, she decided to take matters into her own hands and end her own life.

At this moment the choice comes: does the protagonist let his loved one endure close to a quarter century of Hell -- or the novel's version of Hell, anyway --, or attempt a one in a trillion chance of finding her and risk losing both of their souls forever.

I dunno. To me, at least, that is a pretty shitty choice to be presented with. In the first option, she's guaranteed (most likely) to rejoin her husband in heaven, but at the expense of enduring unimaginable torment for years upon years. In the second option, he can make the brazen and most-likely-to-fail attempt to reach her, at the risk of royally fucking them both over for all eternity.

What would you do, in the main character's position? Would you let someone you loved more than anything else endure hell for close to twenty five years, or make a worse-than-the-lottery chance at rescuing him/her, at the risk of damning you both forever?

See, that is what I think writers should strive for more often. Fucked-if-you-do-or-don't decisions force the readers/audience into the perspective of the characters, and allow more opportunity for empathy. The television series "The Shield" was spectacular with this during the final season, which allowed the audience to share identify with a less-than-savory character that they otherwise wouldn't want anything to do with.

So, strive for those decisions in your writing. Make it tough for your characters... and your readers. They'll thank you for it.

Flipping Out.

I would've simply posted this on my facebook page or other similar media-sharing page, but there is simply too much blargh-ness (there's really no other word that captures it) in these four minutes and fourteen seconds to safely do so.

Nope, it has nothing to do with writing. Well, one of the clips in the video does, but mainly it is pure "blargh". If only I could set this video as my alarm clock. If only.

Anyway, here it is.

This is interesting.

You know how after a movie wraps up and the credits scroll, for the "Written By" section, you usually see twelve or thirteen names listed? When I was a kid and saw this, I thought to myself, "Do they all just sit in a massive room and type it out together word by word?"

No. It's just that most movie scripts go through many, many, many re-writes before they end up on screen. If the filmmakers like the story but wish the dialogue had a little more snap to it, they'll hire a new writer that's known for witty dialogue to come in and work on it. If the story may benefit from a little more adrenaline, they'll hire a new writer who has a solid history of white-knuckle thrillers. And so on, and so on.

Very rarely do I hear about scripts that avoid that adventure, and go to appear on screen without having gone through rewrite after rewrite. However, there are currently two major movies out right now that, from what I've heard, were made from scripts that were for the most part left unchanged.

Those two movies are The Social Network and Hereafter. You've more than likely heard of them.

Here's a great interview on deadline.com with Peter Morgan, the screenwriter behind Hereafter, The Last King of Scotland, The Queen, and Frost/Nixon. He talks about the events that lead up to Hereafter being made, which even involved Steven Spielberg! Enjoy:

http://www.deadline.com/2010/10/oscar-qa-peter-morgan-talks-hereafter/

Simultaneous Submissions And Multiple Submissions... What's The Difference?

While submitting work to literary journals and magazines, it's always a good idea to read their guidelines and criteria. Every publication is different. Sometimes, though, you'll come across a few recurring terms.

"Simultaneous submissions" is one of them. Not to be confused with "multiple submissions."

When a magazine discourages "multiple submissions", that means that the editorial staff don't want you submitting all thirty of your short stories to them at once. Even if they accept multiple submissions, it's still not a good idea to bombard them like that. Be humane.

Simultaneous submissions, though, means something else entirely. If a journal requests "no simultaneous submissions," that means if you submit one story for a publication's consideration, you cannot submit it to any other publication until they decide upon the story's fate.

When starting out in this biz, a first compulsion might be to just formulate a list of attractive publications and send them all your stuff... all at once. This is a terrible, terrible idea, and a sure way to burn bridges. It's best to research each publication on an individual basis and formulate the appropriate strategy..

Submission Process

Hello all. Still'm editing Magic In Dogtown. While doing so, I'm working on sending some of my short stories to some literary magazines and markets.

If no one has informed you that writing is a job, well, I'm telling you now. It is. It even comes with its own interview process of sorts. You know how when applying to jobs, you submit a cover letter, resume, and wait to hear back from the prospective employer or Human Resources department? Submitting written stories is kind of similar.

For literary journals, you have to shop around and do your research like any other job. A good resource is Writer's Market. It's a kind of yellow-pages like listing of different agents, markets, literary magazines, and journals. Read through it, find some items of interest, and then read the journals or information on agents that interest you. When it's time, you, erm, "apply" for the job, and by that I mean submit your work.

Submission can be as easy as an online entry form, or can involve going through a routine of cover letters, query letters, and partial manuscripts even before the entire manuscript is considered. And, even after all of that, you can still get rejected. In fact, it's a pretty good idea to count on getting rejected. It's a part of the life.

I've heard that keeping a spreadsheet of your submissions is good practice, and I completely agree. Whether it be a spreadsheet you keep in Google Docs, or an Excel spreadsheet you save on your personal computer... a record of what you sent to which agencies or magazines is essential. Personally, I highlight all entries that I'm waiting to hear back from in yellow; all rejected entries in red; and all accepted entries in green. (Like a traffic light: yellow for wait, red for no, and green for go).

Problem is, like regular employment, experience matters. In cover letters and query letters, it makes a big difference if you can list past publishing credits.

But what if you're unpublished, like me and most of Earth's population? How does one get published when it helps to already be published? Therein lies the conundrum.

At this point, I don't really know what to tell you, since I'm currently fighting the same battle. Just... don't give up. The fight to get there is half the fun... I think.

D'oh!

Didn't quite make the cut on The Silver Screenwriting Competition. Still, I'm honored for even being considered. Good luck to all the Semi-finalists!

Misc.

Hello there.

First, before I get into anything else, I'll steer you in the direction of my cousin's website, as he recently posted a new short story and blog entry. Check them out when you get the chance:

-My Cousin's New Blog Entry

-My Cousin's New Short Story

Also, a script of mine is currently in the Quarterfinals round in the Silver Screenwriting Competition (Quarterfinalist List here). I hadn't entered a writing competition in awhile, so why this one? Two words:

Shane Black.

For those who aren't familiar with the name, it's almost a given that you're familiar with his work. If titles like Lethal Weapon, Long Kiss Goodnight, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, are for some reason unknown to you, go and watch them now. Right now. I'll wait...

Back yet? Yes, they're awesome. Shane Black has been a screenwriting hero of mine long before I even knew I wanted to write screenplays. They're always thrilling, hilarious, and always full of instantly quotable dialogue.

Anyway, the winner of the grand prize of the Silver Screenwriting Competition, along with a slew of other cool things, gets to have lunch with him. Winning the grand prize is a long shot, but I'd be silly not to enter for a chance to meet the man. I'm psyched and honored at the chance.