Honesty, truth, and doing what you promise

One thing that has been ingrained in me since childhood is the importance of honesty. In all things, because even the little things are important. I believe it is the singular facet of personality that displays integrity to anyone willing to look. Hopefully I've helped pass this on to my children. As the old saying goes, "Your word is the only thing nobody can take from you." Like all sayings, it's a bit trite, but the meaning is well meant. Honesty is yours, and only yours to lose.

We all see evidence of the results of honesty and dishonesty all around us. It's tough to trust people--which is why lawyers and such are making such a great living. We have waivers for everything now, mainly because both parties want to cover any liability. How much simpler life would be if we could completely believe whatever someone agrees to? It sure would be an easier world. Thinking about it makes me yearn for the days of "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Andy Griffith Show." Calm, simple, easygoing ... tranquil. In this ever more automated and driven world I long for times of long Sunday afternoons, lemonade stands, and Summer breezes.

Maybe we can encourage a better world by being more honest with each other. Sure, people may misuse our honesty, but ignore those pests and keep a bright eye about you. It's worth it. With a bit of persistence, we can make at least our own little part of the world better. Try it, I'll bet you'll like it. It's neat seeing trust in someone's eyes reflected back at you. You'll quickly find you want that to happen all the time.

- M

Steak & Potatoes

Food is life, but if you must eat why not eat something really good? I suggest steak, a nice big ribeye or t-bone. Pick your cooking style--I prefer medium--and go to work. Add in potatoes and you've got a good 'ole American meal. Sadly I no longer have enough teeth to munch a steak, so I must reluctantly watch as my wife thoroughly enjoys said steak. Ah well, at least I can still enjoy the smell.

I am starting to understand why people become chefs. I mean, I'd love to eat creative meals (with nicely small portions) that taste fantastic. My new mantra is to eat less, but eat more flavor. After all, we all want to lose weight, so why not eat what tastes great? Most Americans go for quantity over quality, but it's far better to eat less and munch slower. Yup, I'm now giving dieting advice. Eat slower, eat less, and you'll enjoy what you have a lot more.

Perhaps I'll dig into some cookbooks and find a few recipes that I like. My main problem is the amount of time it takes to get everything ready, and the number of dirty dishes created. I can follow a recipe (I've even made Quiche Loraine) but it's not as quick and easy as television shows make it out. The good thing about learning to cook is that you'll never be truly hungry, because you can make a meal yourself (heh, learned that from Ratatouille).

- M

Goofy, odd, nutty, and all around strange comedy

Since I grew up with Laurel & Hardy, Tim Conway, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Jerry Lewis, and all kinds of other great comedy geniuses, I enjoy a wide variety of styles. That's probably why I enjoy British humor so much, because it's quirky and tons of fun if you allow it to be. Just look up Mr. Bean and you'll see what I mean. One thing I do truly wish is for modern comedians to dial down the profanity (think about Bill Cosby and how he managed to be funny without needing to wash his mouth out with soap after every performance).

 

This all brings me to one of my favorite television shows... The Red/Green Show. It's about a older handyman who has a rather special view of the world. It's harmless fun, and the cast is solid. What I really appreciate is they don't take themselves seriously at all. They poke fun at everything, while being wildly entertaining. Of course, you do have to take your brain off the hook and let it dangle in the wind as you watch, but we all need to do that every now and then.

 

I guess what I'm really getting at, is that we need goofy stuff around us to keep us laughing. Life shouldn't be so serious all the time. Enjoy it for what it is: a nutty carnival that hardly ever makes sense, but sure makes life interesting. Have fun, be happy.

 

 

- M

Year of the superhero!

Being a comics nerd, I'm excited about this year's movies. There are superheroes everywhere! TV shows, movies, comics are surging again. I love it. The biggest thing about it is that people are celebrating the heroic, and the possibilities, and the courage. As I've long said, we need heroes around us--even if they're only stories. Because, they inspire! We want things around us that make us reach and strive and hope for better.

 

The funny thing is, I really don't care how good or bad these stories are. I actually enjoy the new Amazing Spiderman 2 movie. Sure, it's not great art, and there are plot problems, but it's a fun story. Take your brain off the hook for a couple of hours and have fun. What's wrong with that? Since stories are a two-way street, with the audience bringing just as much to the event as the author, there is always room for whatever story people want to create. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it makes sense that not everything will be beautiful for everyone.

 

What's coming up? In the world of movies, there's the new Avengers movie, Antman (yeah, you heard that right), Fantastic 4, Star Wars 7, Jurassic Park World, and a new James Bond (not a superhero, but may as well be). The video game, Assassin's Creed is getting a movie, and so is World of Warcraft. It's a season of gambles, but I think a pretty safe one. We want our heroes, and we don't care how many there are.

 

Bring on the supers!

 

- M

How many impossible things have you done today?

One of my favorite books, and indeed series of books, is the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It's a surreal comic that takes an ordinary bloke, bumbling about his dreary life, who ends up in extraordinary circumstances, but only cares about getting a cup of tea and wondering what in blazes is going on with his life. The humor is so ever-present that it completely comes out of nowhere so often that you'll laugh at things like, "The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." Brilliant.

 

But, my favorite line is from an advertisement for the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, "If you've done six impossible things before breakfast..." What a concept! Think about it for a bit. Why not embrace the concept? After all, what is impossible really? Climbing the highest mountain? Building a massive skyscraper? The birth of a child? A rose? Rain? I love the impossible.

 

Some of the greatest stories deal with the impossible as daily events. As the old saying goes, if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. Breaking past the impossible is great fun, stokes conflict, and highlights the good and the bad guys with wide strokes of the pen. Just go with it and see where the story takes you. I suspect the Odyssey and other ancient tales grew gradually, with more and more incredible happenings being added all the time.

 

So... how many impossible things have you done before breakfast?

 

- M

Frailty of the once strong and mighty

We all grow old. It's a fact of life. Because of that, we don't mind when our heroes/villains grow old with us. It reminds us that we are human, and that things never remain the same for long. I find it personally very poignant right now because I've had both knees replaced at a pretty young age. It's humbling; very humbling. I gained my black belt in Taekwondo right out of high school, I can bench press with one arm what most cannot do with both. Yet, now I quail in fear at the sight of ice on the front steps--truly one of the most terrifying things in life right now, as I nearly broke my back and legs trying to get to work today and then again going to get salt to melt the ice. As I said--humbling.

 

When main characters have frailties of some sort (or overall as from age) it makes them that much more human. We like identifying with main characters. We as an audience have a need to connect emotionally and physically with them (even when they are superheroes or aliens). When they are so completely beyond us they fall into the realm of gods who are incomprehensible. There's not much tension developing when characters are like that, and stories are all about tension. More tension means more interest and with greater interest it makes the audience want more. As authors, we hope our audience wants ever more of what we have to offer!

 

Frailty is a funny thing, though. Too little and it doesn't matter, but too much and its overwhelming. There are exceptions of course. I think about my favorite detective: Columbo. I can't imagine him chasing any criminal down on foot, or lifting a car over his head. However you decide to use frailty, make sure you do it with specific purpose in mind. And, even better, make the character's frailty something that has a direct impact on the story. It's there to create deep connections with the audience. Just try not to fall on your face--

 

- M

Amusement parks... I'm going to Disneyland!

Like a lot of people, I grew up going to amusement parks (particularly the one in Kansas City). I've been to both Disney's in the US and a bunch of others. It's one of my regrets that my children haven't been able to experience the same thing. Going to distant places, for the purpose of having fun, is actually a bit weird--why can't we have fun right here? I think we instinctively have a need to travel and explore, as much as our need to eat and sleep. Scratching that itch is vastly fulfilling.

 

The longevity of amusement parks backs this up. They are still around, with more built all the time. I hear the Harry Potter park is very successful, as is the Legoland one (okay, maybe not total parks to themselves, but they sure are big). People want an escape, and they'll travel across the world to find it. It speaks to us deeply, powerfully, and lastingly. We need those escapes.

 

That's why I'm so optimistic about writing. People long to leave their lives for a time, and stories are the best (in my opinion) way to do that. Brew a cup of coffee, put on your sleepers, snuggle under a blanket, and pull out a book. Spend time disappearing into a story.

 

Or, go to Disneyland!

 

- M

Iconic villains

I was thinking about movie villains, and how some iconic villains have almost impossibly short screen time yet overshadow the entire movie. A couple of examples are: Darth Vader (Star Wars), and Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs). Even if you haven't seem the movies, I'll wager you all know these two characters. The incredible part is how little they are seen. Darth Vader--18 minutes of 121 minutes total; Hannibal Lecter--16 minutes of 118 total. Yet, these two villains are part of every moment in these movies due to their amazingly powerful characterization... so much so that in the next films they each played a far greater role.

What makes villains instantly memorable? Why do some capture the public's attention with seemingly no effort? How can we do the same as we create our own villains?

 

Probably the single most important answer is the author knew precisely who and what these villains were before writing a single sentence. They feel real from the moment they appear because the author already believes in them. The actors play a key aspect as well, since they provide the visuals, but since Darth Vader is a man in a suit it's mainly his characterization that gives this feel. Also the villains have clear motivations which the audience understands immediately (Darth Vader wants the plans for the Death Star back, and Hannibal Lecter wants to sadistically toy with the FBI agent).

 

The other thing is there is very little backstory to these villains. Sure, there "seems" to be, but as an audience we are given precious few bits of it. In studying villains, I've noticed that many don't really have much information as to why or how they came about. They are mostly "now" characters who are part of the story but not explained. I'm fine with that. After all, my favorite villain of all time is Maleficent (from the old animated Sleeping Beauty) who shows up and does mean and ugly things, then does it again and again. They're evil and love it.

 

My advice to authors is to make a villain you totally believe in and then write the story. The audience will follow along like puppy dogs.

 

- M

Heroic victory in the face of certain defeat

The concept of the last stand is ages old, probably because we human beings hate letting defeat sweep over us without at least doing everything we can to oppose it. There are many stories of warriors fighting until the last man (generally true war stories), but in fiction we get to taste the mythical heroic victory despite overwhelming odds. And not any old odds, but utter failure wrapped in a single conflict. Like when a single hero takes on an entire army. It makes for a great story.

 

Fiction offers a glimpse into what might be, even when it's ridiculously optimistic. We love our heroes. Why is it that Hercules is such a long-lived myth? I submit that it's because we personally long to be able to fight incredible odds and come out the victor. When we vicariously live out those fantasies through the deeds of heroes, it's in part as if we've done them ourselves. That's why we love them, and create even more incredible deeds and impossible victories.

 

At its core, I think heroic victories give us hope that we can defeat the comparatively small issues that we deal with. After all, if Hercules can clean out a huge set of stables in a day, then why am I complaining when I have to do the dishes? Whatever your personal favorite, these stories empower us, give examples of incredible heroics, and are plain terrific entertainment. Heroic victories will continue until the end of time.

 

Long live the fighters!

 

- M

The power of positivity and the power of negativity

I decided a long time ago that I would purposely point myself toward the positive and reduce the negatives. Sure, there are many things that make me cringe and want to rant about all the negatives (and I do my share of ranting, just ask my wife). But, overall I hope that my outlook is toward the positive. We live in a world of cruelty, deceit, and anguish. Deny it, sure, but why focus on it?

Why do I bring this up? One specific reason: I believe most people want to participate in stories that encourage and lift up. Now, there are many levels of that. It's hard for a murder mystery to fit my definition, though not really if you consider that typically good guys win and bad guys lose. Entertainment is generally a joyous thing, even when it dips like a rollercoaster from a high to a shocking low. Shocks are fun things too. Why is it that general audience films like "Up" do so fantastically well, and generate such profit, when most Hollywood movies that come out are rated PG-13 and above? Because we want to be uplifted, even for a little while.

Story participation generates powerful feelings, and a good author will channel those feelings into connections with the main characters and what is happening to them. Those feelings spread to the rest of the story and imbed lasting memories in the audience. I think that's why we love stories so much! Even though we didn't create the story, we create a connection by sharing them with others. And this sharing generates closeness among us. That, my friends, is the power of positive stories.

- M

Temptations, strong & powerful or subtle & enticing

In a way, temptations define people as much as their character, courage, or abilities do. It's revealing to understand what makes someone bend and sway, and what they resist and stop. There's a whole lot of stories told about the ravages of temptation and the crawling away from it, or the opposite where it doesn't end as well. However it's used, we all understand temptation and if we can get into the character's viewpoint we can understand the reasons and motivations.

 

It's often said that tests and trials are the fires that refine us. In the great epic of the Odyssey, our hero and his men are forced to pass by an island inhabited by the mythical sirens. It is said that their song is so rapturous that sailors would drive their ships into the rocks just to get closer to hear more. In the story, Odysseus has himself tied to the mast (while his sailors plug their ears with wax) so that he can hear the siren's song. It's interesting to note that he allowed himself to succumb to temptation but denied himself the ability to act upon it. Kind of like the old expression of having your cake and eating it too (which is a confusing concept until you realize it only means if you eat your cake you will no longer have it to hold).

 

Temptations, whether characters search them out or are suddenly confronted by them, are a catalyst for new directions and explorations. Depending on the story, it may very well be the main crisis the character faces. And if we are talking about real life, it's something we deal with constantly--maybe even on a daily basis. However it's used, temptation isn't something taken lightly. It's a powerful source of tension.

 

- M