Ah, the age old question, capable of sparking such impassioned debates. It is, of course, a loaded question, and “good” is a matter of taste, which is why this question is infinitely interesting–and infinitely fruitless. To truly understand the difference between the mediums, we need to ask the more appropriate but admittedly duller question: “Why […]
Read more "Why are movies never as good as the books?"I just finished watching The Wire, and I’m depressed. The pain. Someone just shoot me. Right now.
Read more "The Wire: way down in the hole"Let’s be honest. No one likes criticism or being “judged,” especially creators, but it’s a necessary evil. First, constructive feedback is essential for improving your craft. Second, these critics/reviewers/editors serve as gatekeepers of quality. This is essential for allowing the best works to rise to the top and be eventually recognized.
Read more "Critics are necessary evils"One of my biggest pet peeves is witnessing something unbelievable in a fictional story because it kills the immersion experience. Plot holes and the overuse of action and special effects are usually the main culprits.
Read more "Believable make-believe"Read about a presentation at the Game Developers Conference 2010 today entitled “Five ways games can make you cry.” You should read the whole article if interested, but a summary is listed below for your convenience, along with some thoughts.
Read more "How games can make you cry"All works of fiction entertain to some degree, so I would say that’s a given. If the audience learns anything about life or themselves, that’s bonus. But the Holy Grail of all fiction is immersion.
Read more "Immersion: the Holy Grail of video game design"There’s an interesting article on CNN.com about the 10 things you can learn about heroes from action movies. Below are the four that I feel are most true.
Read more "What action movies teach us about heroes"Sci-fi writers are better than other writers. Isaac Asimov was once accused of making this claim, which infuriated a great many writers.
Read more "Are sci-fi writers better than others?"I attend a writers group. Here are some thoughts about dialogue from the meeting.
Read more "Writers group: dialogue"There are three basic approaches to creative writing that can create equally good but considerably different works. One way is to focus on a strong set of characters; another way is to focus on the action or story; and yet another way is to focus on expressing ideas through dialogues.
Read more "3 creative writing approaches"
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