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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jun 8, 2017 1:57:26 GMT -5
There's a lot I agree with Frank here, but personally, whilst the second part with stronger, the first part, to me at any rate, was much more fun to write. We had no idea what was going on, people started dying a lot, randomly, strangely, the plot was all twisted, yet this to me made it one of the most fun LMs to write. Plus, given part two cleared the whole story up, part one's weaknesses have been lowered drastically.
All in all, one hell of a Literary Mosaic. Cricket, anyone?
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 8, 2017 15:11:54 GMT -5
That dying a lot/randomly isn't a postistive thing though; for the reasons I stated.
Neither is having no idea what is going; that created confusion, not tension.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jun 8, 2017 15:22:18 GMT -5
Isn't that the key to a mystery? Not knowing what is going on, and having it all cleared up at the end?
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 8, 2017 15:27:07 GMT -5
Yes, but that's not what I meant.
Even in a mystery story, you still have an idea for what is going on in the plot, and it gives a direction to follow.
In this case though, the chaos created a situation that was very difficult to follow; and again- too many death that did not drive the plot forward.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jun 8, 2017 16:38:35 GMT -5
But of course, it's just one guy's opinion - yours, and mine.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 8, 2017 16:56:54 GMT -5
you mean in the sense of the deaths driving the plot forward or the chaos?
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jun 8, 2017 17:25:29 GMT -5
Yes. In my opinion it worked, I'm yours it didn't.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 8, 2017 18:15:02 GMT -5
Perhaps when you write your take on the review, you should put forward your counterpoints for the bog post; I don't know; maybe present both takes and let the readers decide
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jul 10, 2017 1:11:32 GMT -5
Potential Blog Post:
A Writer's Perspective- Why the "Dream Twist" Should be Discouraged
"It was all a dream..." we must have seen that in many a story, tv show or film. Something dramatic or outrageous happens, only for us to find out that nothing that happened matters; it was all a dream.
The problem with this twist is that it is a very delicate one to execute... it is either hit or miss, there is no in-between. Sometimes, it can work- in many children's shows, the main character will often experience something scary or outside the "norm" of what the show is about; the ending revealing that it was all a dream reassures the viewers that everything is ok. But the dream twist can also damage. Consider the popular 1970s/80s Soap Opera Dallas. Without going into the complicated background, season nine of this show was revealed to be a dream in the season 10 premiere, in order to bring back a character that had died at the beginning of season nine.
Unfortunately, this twist did not work out; this moment is considered to be when Dallas "Jumped the Shark," and the show declined. That is the problem with the Dream Twist; to say that "none of this matters" doesn't make much sense, and it really makes you wonder what was the whole point of watching/reading what just happened.
So how does this apply to 3WSR? Well, enter Literary Mosaic 11; the most recent completed entry in the continuing adventures of Adolf Gunnarson.
When a man is murdered in a cave, Gunnarson works to solve the case. In the end, the suspect is the last person he would have thought, it is Phillipa Catherine "Cricket" Hartley; James Hartley's wife, to whom he only recently married. We find out that Cricket is actually an assassin sent to kill Gunnarson, and only used Hartley as a way to get close to Gunnarson.
Well, long story short- there's a confrontation, Hartley declares he wants a divorce, and Cricket goes into hiding after failing to kill them by causing an explosion in the cave.
Hartley then muses on the situation afterwords and decides that perhaps love was more complicated than realized. And that would have been the end. Ignoring "behind the scenes" things, an epilogue at the end says that this story was actually inspired by a dream Hartley had, and he wrote it to share it with his loyal readers. And he was still married to Cricket
Now, what is the problem? The problem with dismissing this story as a dream is that it weakens the impact of the ending and scenes that were supposed to be powerful an poignant suddenly become meaningless. Take this post for example; after Cricket disappears and Hartley is on his own again, he muses to himself and talks to his brother, resulting in this:
In the end, I realized her love was not true. As I look back on those months I was married to Cricket... or whatever her real name is... I came to realize something important though. Love is not something that develops overnight. Love is more than passion alone... it is something more, something deeper. Though I am once again a single bachelor, I do feel that one day, I will meet the right woman, and after spending time with her and developing our relationship to be more than based on passionate feelings, we will experience a truer love than what Cricket was able to offer me. I guess a fool will always have a foolish heart, and with a fool like me, I couldn't ask for more.
Since the events of this story, I have returned to Scotland, and moved back in with my brother's family; I could not continue living in the home Cricket and I shared; it brought to mind memories I would rather not recall. Roger does not mind though; after our father died, it's just the two of us now.
He is married and has children, and after I shared my story with him, he had this advice for me.
"James, love may seem simple, but the truth is it is more complicated that you can imagine. Sarah and I have known each other since we were ten, but marriage was never a thought until just before I entered the service. Look at where we are today; a loving family with two sons and a daughter. I always thought of her as a good friend, but it took that one party we went to in 1937 to realize we were meant to be more than friends. You can say your experience with Cricket was extraordinary, but that doesn't change the fact that your relationship was based on passion and extraordinary circumstances. Remember this James- I know you will find love one day, but until that happens, just know that you can't expect an overnight miracle. Maybe you will meet her tomorrow, or ten years from now, but you will find someone out there, who will make Cricket's "love" seem insignificant" he assured.
And I have taken that to heart.
After Tug wrote the big twist in Literary Mosaic 11, I was so impressed with what he wrote, I decided I had to follow it up with something just as brilliant. So, I went outside my normal comfort zone with writing, and decided to create something that I felt would have lasting impact in LM lore; not just as a form of character development for James Hartley, but a scene that would become special in its own way, as a true apex of LM lore, as one of its finest scenes. James Hartley realizing that the extraordinary circumstances in which he met Cricket resulted in feelings based on passion, and his realization that love is something more, was meant to be a powerful scene for the story, and a poignant wrap up for our protagonist.
And yet, to say that this whole story was a dream, and "none of this matters" it hurts to an extent. Yes, Eyes says there are plans for Cricket in the future, but that is not the point- the point is, a scene that I wanted to stand out as a poignant, and of a kind of scene that I normally have difficulty writing... was basically rendered meaningless, since Cricket and Hartley remained married.
This is why the dream twist should be discouraged; because it takes away from a story more than it adds. While it is true that there is an LM planned with a dream twist at the end for the future, context is key- the nature of the story requires a dream twist, since it will involve Gunnarson going back in time (we promise its not Sci-fi) to solve a mystery.
So in conclusion, the dream twist may seem like a good idea for some scenarios... but in reality, it is something to be discouraged, because if not executed properly, it can take away more than it adds.
To clarify- this post is not meant to criticize anyone, or Literary Mosaic 11. Rather, it is simply one of the writers here offering their perspective on a certain kind of plot element. I promise, a proper review of LM 11 will come when the time is right.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jul 10, 2017 1:13:32 GMT -5
Again, important to clarify-
I'm not criticizing Eyes' choice to use the dream twist at the end of LM 11; rather, that opened up the opportunity to discuss my thoughts on it, and I hope that when posted, it will inspire discussion on the trope's usefulness or uselessness
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jul 10, 2017 9:29:41 GMT -5
Gonna have to place a big spoiler warning on this one. Also, if it helps, I dislike using the dream thing too much as well, it was just the only way I could save my character from LM damnation.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Oct 15, 2017 13:02:17 GMT -5
So recently there's been a lot of controversy in the fandom regarding Thomas's revamp of sorts, so I thought we could possibly get together and write up a blog post on this. (Didn't want to go do it myself for fear of incurring Toz76's wrath.) If you guys have any thoughts you'd like to share, you can post them below.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 15, 2017 13:25:30 GMT -5
I need to get back on the LM reviews actually; and I need to strengthen my LM 8 review in light of the discussion that followed
Speaking of which- Eyes, when you do your review, remember, you can't argue the story was great because of the "chaos" because that in and of itself is not an argument. I'm saying "the chaos did not work for the story because...." but you are saying "the story was great because of the chaos"
If you want to strengthen your argument, you have to say "the chaos worked for the story because..."
It's a very fine difference but a very important difference.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Apr 6, 2018 0:54:02 GMT -5
Very important blog post coming soon- stay tuned
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Apr 9, 2018 23:26:41 GMT -5
I'm hyped.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Apr 12, 2018 20:35:16 GMT -5
Ok... maybe "coming soon" isn't the best term to use. But you get the idea; hopefully it goes up this weekend
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on May 12, 2018 14:23:42 GMT -5
So while Frank compiles that, I've another blog thing I wanna write: CAN WE TALK ABOUT BOCO? In regards to his leaving the show, his personality or lack thereof, and why he should or shouldn't return. Is anyone interested in working on this with me?
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Post by frankthetriviaman on May 24, 2018 17:06:17 GMT -5
It's an idea.. but our blog shouldn't be too Thomas centric anymore.
Yes it's something we al cherish and is how this all started, but let's face it- this isn't a Thomas forum anymore, we're a creative writing forum.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on May 24, 2018 20:12:10 GMT -5
How's your thing progressing?
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Post by frankthetriviaman on May 24, 2018 20:46:51 GMT -5
The idea is there, but I'm going to save it for when the time is right. Posting it now isn't quite right.
On another note though- next week, May 30th, is national creativity day, so I got a blog post or two lined up for that day; stay tuned.
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