Would you look at that. Seems I wrote about 150 pages of script this calendar month.
I don't mean to toot my own horn, but for me that's pretty damn good. It's only 4 and a bit pages a day, but Christ, that's almost more than I wrote in the whole of last year.
That number includes a rewrite of half my feature script, a 30-page 30 Rock spec, the first third of a one-hour spec pilot, and three 20-page comics (for a job on Elance.com). Back in December I wrote the first draft of a 100-page feature, a quick rewrite of my novel, two 22-page comic scripts and a couple of webcomics.
Why the sudden attacking of the keyboard? Well, I kept hearing 'a writer writes every day', and 'a writer finishes what he starts', and I suppose something must have snapped. I did it (am doing it) to prove something to myself.
This isn't to say 'Rah-rah, look at me!'. This is to point out that any idiot can do it, if he sets his mind to it. You want to write? Go, write. Make sure to finish what you start though, or like a half-dead zombie experiment it'll come back to bite you in the neck.
Hey, look! Some Firefox tabs that need closing! Won't you please click on them?
- Joss Whedon gives his Top 10 Screenwriting Tips. I think number 5 will turn out to be very handy for some of my scripts.
- I don't care who you are or what your game is about, this is how you sell a videogame.
- An indie band sings a song about Aquaman's unrequited love for Batman's girlfriend. It's actually better than it sounds.
- Is this insanely funny, or is it just me?
- And finally, something actually useful: a very smart man spills all the secrets of how to move to the US as an Australian.
February 2, 2009
January 23, 2009
The Oscar Campaign of Terrible Movie
Together we can stop the madness: http://nobenjaminbutton.wordpress.com
January 21, 2009
Comics Are Great
I received my author copies of Cages in the mail today. So, hey, author copies. That's a new thing for me. They have a very nice texture, not like the shiny slipperiness of the preview copies. Their colours pop and their pages are bordered by deep, rich blacks. They smell nice, too. And they also happen to be full of COMICS.
You know what else is full of COMICS? My friend Josh and his friend Jorge just started up a new site to serialize their awesome-fun comic Yon Kuma. I was lucky enough to read the first chapter of Yon Kuma already, and it's made of pure win. Let me tell you what it's about: it's about a kid who wrestles bears. There you go. That should be all you need to get you to subscribe to it right now.
You should also definitely check out my friend David's Comicspace. He's been putting some amazing stuff up there recently, including some pages from our old secret projects Chasing the Dragon and Samson.
But the stuff I'm really proud of is a little sneak peak from Shaman Chapter 2, which I wrote last November. I think David really knocked it out of the park with this one -- his art has never looked better. Shaman's actually my next book, to be released later this year, so you'll be hearing more about it soon.
Huzzah for COMICS!
You know what else is full of COMICS? My friend Josh and his friend Jorge just started up a new site to serialize their awesome-fun comic Yon Kuma. I was lucky enough to read the first chapter of Yon Kuma already, and it's made of pure win. Let me tell you what it's about: it's about a kid who wrestles bears. There you go. That should be all you need to get you to subscribe to it right now.
You should also definitely check out my friend David's Comicspace. He's been putting some amazing stuff up there recently, including some pages from our old secret projects Chasing the Dragon and Samson.
But the stuff I'm really proud of is a little sneak peak from Shaman Chapter 2, which I wrote last November. I think David really knocked it out of the park with this one -- his art has never looked better. Shaman's actually my next book, to be released later this year, so you'll be hearing more about it soon.
Huzzah for COMICS!
January 17, 2009
The Final Sign of the Apocalypse
This is the single worst thing ever posted on the internet.
No, it's not a joke or parody, it's a real product. If you press play on this clip, don't say I didn't warn you. Believe me, your life will be changed... and not for the better.
No, it's not a joke or parody, it's a real product. If you press play on this clip, don't say I didn't warn you. Believe me, your life will be changed... and not for the better.
January 13, 2009
I Strongly Advise You To Click On This Link
Click on over to The Red Eye blog for the announcement of the official launch of something called 'Cages', which appears to be some kind of newfangled 'comic book':
The post continues with links, places to buy, and a round-up of glowing reviews.
You know, this Cages thing sounds pretty good. I might have to get myself of a copy of that there book.
If you’ve not heard of Cages before, it is a science fiction boom with a foreword from 30 Days of Night award-winning artist, Ben Templesmith, a cover by acclaimed artist, Jonathan Hickman, written by amazing Australian writer, Xander Bennett and illustrated by Cancertown colourist, Melanie Cook.
In a post-apocalyptic world of monsters, robots and mad science, three young fugitives strive to uncover the secrets behind their own mysterious abilities.
The post continues with links, places to buy, and a round-up of glowing reviews.
You know, this Cages thing sounds pretty good. I might have to get myself of a copy of that there book.
December 22, 2008
The Year In Television
I watched a staggering amount of television in 2008. In fact, I'd say that television dominated my free time this year like nothing else.
Which is not to say that I sat down in front of the box and watched whatever happened to be flashing across the screen. Actually, for 9 months of the year, my TV wasn't even plugged into the wall.
I mean that I watched a ton of great shows, sequentially, season by season. I watched episodes whenever I felt like watching them, which is quite clearly the way things are going to go in the next few years.
I watched:
1 season of Apparitions
3 seasons of Dexter
2.5 seasons of 30 Rock
3 seasons of Weeds
1 season of Battlestar Galactica
2 seasons of Mad Men
1 season of True Blood
3 seasons of X-Files (a retrospective, if you will)
2 seasons of Big Love
2 seasons of Californication
1 season of Flight of the Conchords
...plus scattered episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Burn Notice, How I Met Your Mother, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, Leverage, Jekyll, Greek, Ugly Betty, Roswell, The Shield, Damages and Generation Kill.
That's at least 21 entire seasons of TV. By contrast, I think I saw 7 or 8 movies at the cinema, and completed exactly one videogame (the monumental Fallout 3).
And the most astonishing part of it is this: some of those shows were crap. Some were average. But the vast majority were very, very good.
Shows like Dexter, 30 Rock and Battlestar could not have been made a decade ago. They're brave, original, challenging, and I think they're a very clear indicator of support for my pet theory: that television as a creative medium is going through an unprecedented Golden Age.
Then you have shows like Mad Men and Apparitions. What can you say about these shows? They are glittering, incandescent. They are like poison to the writer's heart. They twist you up inside because you know that you'll never, ever in a million years, write anything that good. And yet they make you want to try.
Which is not to say that I sat down in front of the box and watched whatever happened to be flashing across the screen. Actually, for 9 months of the year, my TV wasn't even plugged into the wall.
I mean that I watched a ton of great shows, sequentially, season by season. I watched episodes whenever I felt like watching them, which is quite clearly the way things are going to go in the next few years.
I watched:
1 season of Apparitions
3 seasons of Dexter
2.5 seasons of 30 Rock
3 seasons of Weeds
1 season of Battlestar Galactica
2 seasons of Mad Men
1 season of True Blood
3 seasons of X-Files (a retrospective, if you will)
2 seasons of Big Love
2 seasons of Californication
1 season of Flight of the Conchords
...plus scattered episodes of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Burn Notice, How I Met Your Mother, Life, Dirty Sexy Money, Leverage, Jekyll, Greek, Ugly Betty, Roswell, The Shield, Damages and Generation Kill.
That's at least 21 entire seasons of TV. By contrast, I think I saw 7 or 8 movies at the cinema, and completed exactly one videogame (the monumental Fallout 3).
And the most astonishing part of it is this: some of those shows were crap. Some were average. But the vast majority were very, very good.
Shows like Dexter, 30 Rock and Battlestar could not have been made a decade ago. They're brave, original, challenging, and I think they're a very clear indicator of support for my pet theory: that television as a creative medium is going through an unprecedented Golden Age.
Then you have shows like Mad Men and Apparitions. What can you say about these shows? They are glittering, incandescent. They are like poison to the writer's heart. They twist you up inside because you know that you'll never, ever in a million years, write anything that good. And yet they make you want to try.
December 19, 2008
The Most Hilarious Thing I Have Read Today
From an article on UCLA economists deciding that the New Deal probably prolonged the Great Depression:
Ah ha ha ha. I really hope that last line was intended as a joke. Because I just can't imagine our lawmakers doing anything like that.
Here I am trying to write comedy, and the world is funnier than anything my feeble mind can imagine.
"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."
Ah ha ha ha. I really hope that last line was intended as a joke. Because I just can't imagine our lawmakers doing anything like that.
Here I am trying to write comedy, and the world is funnier than anything my feeble mind can imagine.
December 18, 2008
It Feels Like A Blogging Day
For your clicking enjoyment: 3 Wikipedia articles that have recently blown my mind.
The Day The Clown Cried
Antikythera Mechanism
Pochteca
The Day The Clown Cried
Antikythera Mechanism
Pochteca
To The Woman Who Deliberately Stole My Parking Space At Runaway Bay Shopping Centre Today
Admittedly, it is the season
when shoppers lose all thought and reason.
But with that said, I still must ask
that you shove a pine tree
up your ass.
when shoppers lose all thought and reason.
But with that said, I still must ask
that you shove a pine tree
up your ass.
November 21, 2008
Read This
This is the single most interesting article on the Viet Nam War I've ever read.
If you can, just ignore the fact that it's published in something called 'International Socialist Review' (and if you're a Marxist, well, no offense meant). Whatever the author's leanings, it's still massively worthwhile reading.
I love stuff like this -- the forgotten history that everyone wishes would just quietly go away. Reading this, I felt a whole piece of missing history click into place. (So that's why the US military now relies so heavily on air strikes; so that's why they 'won' the Tet Offensive but lost the war in the process, etc.)
If you can, just ignore the fact that it's published in something called 'International Socialist Review' (and if you're a Marxist, well, no offense meant). Whatever the author's leanings, it's still massively worthwhile reading.
I love stuff like this -- the forgotten history that everyone wishes would just quietly go away. Reading this, I felt a whole piece of missing history click into place. (So that's why the US military now relies so heavily on air strikes; so that's why they 'won' the Tet Offensive but lost the war in the process, etc.)
November 19, 2008
Hey Kids!
I'm busy, but in a good way. Lots of work, some of it paid.
Although I had to replace the tyres on my car today which, it turns out, costs a whole lot. (A tip: don't buy Bridgestone. Mine wore out in less than 2 years).
I got a very nice write-up today on the Elance blog. Yes, I really did say that soundbyte, or at least typed it. It actually is a hell of a good resource for writers.
I've been twittering more recently. I heard all the kids were doing it. You can follow my inanities on the sidebar to the right, or you can go here and follow me, should you be that way inclined.
God I love D&D 4th edition. Last week's session was an exciting little delve involving enraged water elementals, several varieties of giant bugs, a living statue of a dog and naked underwater strangulation (don't ask). I haven't been this besotted with an RPG since Exalted.
The other thing currently occupying my leisure time: A Rage to Live, the biography of Richard and Isabel Burton. 900 pages long and utterly gripping, in the way that fiction rarely is for me any more. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in Burton, surely one of the most interesting figures of the 19th century.
Speaking of books: please buy mine. Here's that link to Amazon again, where you can buy your very own copy of my comic book CAGES. Art by Mel Cook, cover by Jonathan Hickman; makes a great stocking stuffer. Sorry for the plug, but hey, it's my blog and I'll plug if I wanna.
Until next time.
Although I had to replace the tyres on my car today which, it turns out, costs a whole lot. (A tip: don't buy Bridgestone. Mine wore out in less than 2 years).
I got a very nice write-up today on the Elance blog. Yes, I really did say that soundbyte, or at least typed it. It actually is a hell of a good resource for writers.
I've been twittering more recently. I heard all the kids were doing it. You can follow my inanities on the sidebar to the right, or you can go here and follow me, should you be that way inclined.
God I love D&D 4th edition. Last week's session was an exciting little delve involving enraged water elementals, several varieties of giant bugs, a living statue of a dog and naked underwater strangulation (don't ask). I haven't been this besotted with an RPG since Exalted.
The other thing currently occupying my leisure time: A Rage to Live, the biography of Richard and Isabel Burton. 900 pages long and utterly gripping, in the way that fiction rarely is for me any more. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in Burton, surely one of the most interesting figures of the 19th century.
Speaking of books: please buy mine. Here's that link to Amazon again, where you can buy your very own copy of my comic book CAGES. Art by Mel Cook, cover by Jonathan Hickman; makes a great stocking stuffer. Sorry for the plug, but hey, it's my blog and I'll plug if I wanna.
Until next time.
November 5, 2008
Congratulations
A follow-up to my previous deleted post:
Well done, America.
This is obviously a massive step forward for race relations in your country. Sarah Palin is slinking back to the icy wastes where she belongs. The Fox journalists, skinheads and Christofascists are crying themselves to sleep right now. Your middle class might still be able to afford food during the coming depression.
Democracy works, sort of. Well done.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan and Gaza, people are dying.
I hope Barack Obama turns out to be everything you wish him to be. I also hope unicorns turn out to be real.
Well done, America.
This is obviously a massive step forward for race relations in your country. Sarah Palin is slinking back to the icy wastes where she belongs. The Fox journalists, skinheads and Christofascists are crying themselves to sleep right now. Your middle class might still be able to afford food during the coming depression.
Democracy works, sort of. Well done.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan and Gaza, people are dying.
I hope Barack Obama turns out to be everything you wish him to be. I also hope unicorns turn out to be real.
Whatever Happens Today, Nothing Will Change
EDIT: No. Post deleted. I should keep this blog professional.
November 4, 2008
This Is Not A Test
Testing this new 'blog from desktop' applet in Ubuntu Intrepid. Thinking maybe I'll start posting more now that there's a giant 'BLOG' button staring back at me all day.
October 27, 2008
Is That The Time?
PREAMBLE: This is gonna be a long post, so I've helpfully broken it up with some amusing pictures. Blog posts are better with pictures. It must be true -- I read it on Wikipedia.
When you go 3 months between posts, it's a fair sign that blogging doesn't interest you any more. Or perhaps you're just fed up with the sound of your own voice, echoing in the empty chamber.
Well, not entirely empty. I know there are a few people out there who still read this thing. So this one goes out to you... Tom, Matt, Trevor, Jordan, and immediate family members.
You're still a bigger audience than I deserve. That's, like, seven people right there.
-- First things first: You can all buy Cages now. Yes, that book I wrote is now available to pre-order from Amazon.uk.
(Yeah, '.uk'. We're being distributed by Diamond UK at the moment, but fingers crossed for a USA release next year. If you're in Britain, look for us in the November edition of Previews magazine.)
Why should you buy Cages? Well, it's a cracking good read. It's got a nice shiny cover. It's 112 pages long (count 'em!). Ben Templesmith called it 'disturbing'. But most of all, you should buy it for the brilliant Melanie Cook artwork. Watch that one -- she's going places.
If you need more convincing, why not click on over to Myebook.com and read the first quarter of the book right now.
-- Secondly! I'm back in Australia, after 10 months spent living in a different country.
It feels wrong and strange here, now; which just reinforces my theory that I have no real personal identifier for 'home'. 'Home' is wherever I happen to be right now, and I kind of like it that way. Unlike many people my age, I have no desire to plan ahead, sign a mortgage, upgrade my car, start saving for that plasma TV. Given the latest economic Apocalypse, it's probably for the best.
Australia. Yeah. I think I might have to leave again soon. Los Angeles is calling.
-- Elephant Words. You know, that snazzy short fiction site I contributed to? I finished up with them back in August, after more than a year of writing a story a week. Nothing was wrong; I was the last of the original contributors who hadn't yet taken a break, so it seemed a hiatus was in order.
More importantly, I was beginning to get tired. The last story I wrote really sucks, as do quite a few of my 50+ stories. The early ones, especially, are clunky and forced. Seriously, they're terrible. The short story is an absolutely tyrannical format, especially when you've run out of ideas, it's 1AM, and your post was supposed to be up on the site three hours ago. No wonder I sucked.
But I got better.
Right around here (or possibly here) is where I started to find something like a voice. The voice I found had a sense of humor, and from that point on it seemed like the funny ones were always my most popular pieces.
Looking back now, I can see that my stories somehow always ended up in one of three categories: Funny, Horror, and Sci-fi. The funny ones all sound the same; the horror ones are all short with a predictable twist ending; and the sci-fi ones all fetishize robots, or else desperately try to rip off Cordwainer Smith. Because I am, in the final estimation, a pretty lazy writer.
But there are a handful of stories that I'm proud of. I read them now and think, Jesus, why can't I do that every time I sit down at the laptop? Where did my mind go when I wrote these? And for the love of god, how do I send it back there?
There's this one, a love poem to Viet Nam by way of William Gibson.
This story is written in a voice I will never, ever find again.
I wish I could be this clever with words every single time, but no, apparently it only happens once a year.
This one strikes me as a proper, grown-up SF story, because I started from a 'what if?' idea and built something half decent from it.
With this story I think I finally managed to evoke horror, as opposed to just creepy or weird. Then I did essentially the same trick again, but with a better structure.
And finally, there are exactly 2 stories out of 50+ that I still really like, which is to say that I can read them now without wincing. These two stories are, dare I say it, good. If I die tomorrow, I'll be happy with them. Here they are: 1 and 2.
In the end, I'm a better writer because of Elephant Words. And not just the weekly routine; I'm a better writer because of the other writers that contributed to the site, because of their talent, advice and encouragement. I owe them a debt of thanks. Cheers, guys.
-- Insomnia's excellent new blog, The Red Eye, may have beaten me to the announcement, but I'd still like to mention that I have another book coming out next year. It's called 'Shaman', and it's a cowboys'n'indians Western adventure comic about the last Cherokee shaman's quest to meet the President of the USA. It's also coming out from Insomnia, to be released first in the UK. Look out for it around the middle of next year.
Shaman is drawn by the very brilliant David Montoro, about whom I cannot say too many nice things. The man is an art machine, constantly churning out amazing work. I'd like to point you to his blog and gallery, where you can see a wide range of his work (and buy an original painting of the French countryside, if you'd like).
You can check out a preview of Shaman right now at Myebook.com. It's great to see the pages next to each other in book-form (if I do say so myself). The colours are just staggering.
-- Holy crap this is a long blog post. Not to fear -- the end is in sight!
Recently, I've really been enjoying using the freelancer site Elance. I highly recommend it if you're a writer, software engineer, or anyone else who works for hire, like a grizzled medieval sell-sword. It's got a great interface, and all the funds for projects are held in escrow, meaning you're guaranteed to actually get paid when you finish the work.
(For those who haven't freelanced much before: trust me, that last part is very important.)
-- And that about wraps up this ridiculously long post. See you all real soon. Hopefully, sooner than 3 months.
And remember: Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex is released in 3 days time! Excelsior!
When you go 3 months between posts, it's a fair sign that blogging doesn't interest you any more. Or perhaps you're just fed up with the sound of your own voice, echoing in the empty chamber.
Well, not entirely empty. I know there are a few people out there who still read this thing. So this one goes out to you... Tom, Matt, Trevor, Jordan, and immediate family members.
You're still a bigger audience than I deserve. That's, like, seven people right there.
-- First things first: You can all buy Cages now. Yes, that book I wrote is now available to pre-order from Amazon.uk.
(Yeah, '.uk'. We're being distributed by Diamond UK at the moment, but fingers crossed for a USA release next year. If you're in Britain, look for us in the November edition of Previews magazine.)
Why should you buy Cages? Well, it's a cracking good read. It's got a nice shiny cover. It's 112 pages long (count 'em!). Ben Templesmith called it 'disturbing'. But most of all, you should buy it for the brilliant Melanie Cook artwork. Watch that one -- she's going places.
If you need more convincing, why not click on over to Myebook.com and read the first quarter of the book right now.
-- Secondly! I'm back in Australia, after 10 months spent living in a different country.
It feels wrong and strange here, now; which just reinforces my theory that I have no real personal identifier for 'home'. 'Home' is wherever I happen to be right now, and I kind of like it that way. Unlike many people my age, I have no desire to plan ahead, sign a mortgage, upgrade my car, start saving for that plasma TV. Given the latest economic Apocalypse, it's probably for the best.
Australia. Yeah. I think I might have to leave again soon. Los Angeles is calling.
-- Elephant Words. You know, that snazzy short fiction site I contributed to? I finished up with them back in August, after more than a year of writing a story a week. Nothing was wrong; I was the last of the original contributors who hadn't yet taken a break, so it seemed a hiatus was in order.
More importantly, I was beginning to get tired. The last story I wrote really sucks, as do quite a few of my 50+ stories. The early ones, especially, are clunky and forced. Seriously, they're terrible. The short story is an absolutely tyrannical format, especially when you've run out of ideas, it's 1AM, and your post was supposed to be up on the site three hours ago. No wonder I sucked.
But I got better.
Right around here (or possibly here) is where I started to find something like a voice. The voice I found had a sense of humor, and from that point on it seemed like the funny ones were always my most popular pieces.
Looking back now, I can see that my stories somehow always ended up in one of three categories: Funny, Horror, and Sci-fi. The funny ones all sound the same; the horror ones are all short with a predictable twist ending; and the sci-fi ones all fetishize robots, or else desperately try to rip off Cordwainer Smith. Because I am, in the final estimation, a pretty lazy writer.
But there are a handful of stories that I'm proud of. I read them now and think, Jesus, why can't I do that every time I sit down at the laptop? Where did my mind go when I wrote these? And for the love of god, how do I send it back there?
There's this one, a love poem to Viet Nam by way of William Gibson.
This story is written in a voice I will never, ever find again.
I wish I could be this clever with words every single time, but no, apparently it only happens once a year.
This one strikes me as a proper, grown-up SF story, because I started from a 'what if?' idea and built something half decent from it.
With this story I think I finally managed to evoke horror, as opposed to just creepy or weird. Then I did essentially the same trick again, but with a better structure.
And finally, there are exactly 2 stories out of 50+ that I still really like, which is to say that I can read them now without wincing. These two stories are, dare I say it, good. If I die tomorrow, I'll be happy with them. Here they are: 1 and 2.
In the end, I'm a better writer because of Elephant Words. And not just the weekly routine; I'm a better writer because of the other writers that contributed to the site, because of their talent, advice and encouragement. I owe them a debt of thanks. Cheers, guys.
-- Insomnia's excellent new blog, The Red Eye, may have beaten me to the announcement, but I'd still like to mention that I have another book coming out next year. It's called 'Shaman', and it's a cowboys'n'indians Western adventure comic about the last Cherokee shaman's quest to meet the President of the USA. It's also coming out from Insomnia, to be released first in the UK. Look out for it around the middle of next year.
Shaman is drawn by the very brilliant David Montoro, about whom I cannot say too many nice things. The man is an art machine, constantly churning out amazing work. I'd like to point you to his blog and gallery, where you can see a wide range of his work (and buy an original painting of the French countryside, if you'd like).
You can check out a preview of Shaman right now at Myebook.com. It's great to see the pages next to each other in book-form (if I do say so myself). The colours are just staggering.
-- Holy crap this is a long blog post. Not to fear -- the end is in sight!
Recently, I've really been enjoying using the freelancer site Elance. I highly recommend it if you're a writer, software engineer, or anyone else who works for hire, like a grizzled medieval sell-sword. It's got a great interface, and all the funds for projects are held in escrow, meaning you're guaranteed to actually get paid when you finish the work.
(For those who haven't freelanced much before: trust me, that last part is very important.)
-- And that about wraps up this ridiculously long post. See you all real soon. Hopefully, sooner than 3 months.
And remember: Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex is released in 3 days time! Excelsior!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
