Writing In Summer: The Winner

Posted: June 10, 2012 in ideas, Novel, Writing
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Yeah, you heard it here first, folks; the poll is over and the winner for what novel I’ll be writing over the course of summer vacation (and probably beyond) has been decided. Of the 6 votes, 4 went to Idea #1. I don’t know how many of you are/were Math majors, but I’m pretty sure that’s the majority. And as having the most points gets you the win, Idea #1 is the winner! Somebody drop confetti from the ceiling!

Alright, for those of you just tuning into the Rami Ungar the Writer program, I’ve already written one novel–part of a trilogy–that I’m trying to market to book agents. However while I’m doing that, I’d like to be kept busy writing-wise. I don’t have short story ideas always on hand, and I don’t want to work on my novel’s sequel until after it’s been picked up by an agent. So instead, I decided I’d work on a different, unrelated novel over the summer. Problem is, couldn’t choose between 2 very good ideas, so I left it up to my readers to decide for me. The readers spoke, and I’ve got my summer assignment (lucky for me being a college student, I can decide whether or not I have summer assignments).

I already said in the post where I announced the poll, “Writing in Summer: What to Do” what the ideas were about, but I’ll give you guys a recap on the idea, with a little more information added in as a bonus. The working title is Snake and it’s about a serial killer killing off members of a certain Mafia family in New York City (if anyone reading this post is or knows someone in the mafia, I’d just like to say this is all fictional, none of the families I’ve created for this story are real, so PLEASE DON”T BE MAD!!!). The interesting thing is, you want to root for this serial killer, but why? And for what reason does he kill (don’t say psychopath, I can garauntee you that’s not it)?

Over the course of the research and writing process, I’ll be posting about the progress of Snake and even throwing in a short exerpt or two. Perhaps a literary agent or an editor in a publishing house will happen across this blog, get interesting in Snake–and my other novel, Reborn City, I hope–and get interested enough. Oh God, I hope that happens.

Alright, now that I’ve announced the winner, I think my first little present to you, my friendly readers, bloggers, and people-who-happen-upon-this-blog-through-sheer-random-websurfing-and-have-stayed-more-than-five-seconds-and-gotten-interested-enough-to-read, shall be a list of things I will research and who/what I might consult for this research (if you have any suggestions, let me know!):

1. An FBI profile of the serial killer (I think I’ll consult some professors versed in clinical psychology at OSU and other colleges; I don’t think the FBI BAU would like me sending them a fake profile, and I’m afraid my knowledge of my killer might get in the way of writing the chapters involving the investigation)

2. Streets/places/homes/apartments in New York City and the Hamptons (I’ll probably talk to a real estate or travel agent, they’d know more about this than I would)

3. The structure and history of various mafia syndicates (there’s gotta be a book on that somewhere, someone’s got to have gone to the trouble)

Actually, that’s it for now, if there’s something else I might insert in a post later. Gotta go now, it’s my brithday today, and I plan on writing a post about it after I’ve had my birthday fun. By the way, woo-hoo! I’m 19! I still can’t legally drink in the US, but it’s still awesome.

Thinking Up Stories

Posted: June 4, 2012 in ideas, Writing
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Well, it’s June 4th. Six days left for the poll I set up in “Writing in the Summer: What To Do” (once again, if you haven’t participated yet, please head there now and vote before June 10th; your votes will help me decide which novel I work on during the summer). And as it gets closer to the 10th, I find myself thinking about the current lead. Actually, I’m thinking about it a lot.

Why? I think the answer to that is obvious; writers write. But in order to write, we have to have an idea of what we want to write. And if there’s one thing in writing I can be one-hundred percent guilty of, it’s that I like to dwell on and come up with scenes and plot points and character issues and a whole plethora of other things for a single story…even when I’m not working on said story. I mean, for both choices in the poll, I have quite a few points in the story fleshed out in detail, from character names to life-shaping events, to individual scenes and plot twists, and on one of the stories I’ve analyzed over and over why I’ve given one character the name he has (trust me, his name says a lot about himself and about the people who may read this story in the future).

So yeah, I’m thinking about choice number one a lot. I’m coming up with certain scenes in my head, dividing up chapters, I even planned out two verbal confrontations between characters at different points in the story while taking a shower last night. I’m also thinking about research and the best options to go with (OSU’s Psychology Department; street maps of New York; interviewing a medical examiner who specializes in forensics), and the inner workings of each character, particularly my anti-hero protagonist.

And until I see choice number two leading in the poll, I’m still going to think about choice number one, though certainly not when I’m doing exams or something important. See you at the end of the poll, when I say who won and give you guys what would probably be the blurb on the end of the paperback version.

This Crazy Weekend (June 1-3, 2012)

Posted: June 3, 2012 in Living and Life
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No seriously, it’s been a crazy (but super-fun) weekend for me. It’s the last week of the quarter, and everybody’s getting ready to move out while studying at the same time. Still, events occur that perk up everybody’s moods and give them a welcome break from studying.

For instance, last night at Hillel (the Jewish organisation on campus, for those of you unfamiliar) hosted the all-Jewish acapella group, the Meshuggenotes, for an awesome concert, in which 9 seniors, one or two I’m friends with, were thanked for all their hard work and wished luck after graduation.

Then today, I found out at the cookout my dorm had that in the Biggest Loser challenge at my dorm, I was actually the winner! Oh my god! Really didn’t think I’d win that, but it looks I did! This’ll encourage to continue eating and working out over the summer! And that’s not all; my floor gathered the most food in a food drive, which means we get a pizza party! I knew buying all those ramen cups in bulk would pay off!

And tomorrow’s probably going to be the biggest thing yet: my sister is graduating from Bexley High School. She’ll be an OSU student like me in the fall, though we’ll be living on separate sides of campus and probably won’t have classes together or anything (anyone who knows us will say that’s probably the best arrangement for all concerned). Congrats Adi! Love you no matter what, and I look forward to you being a Buckeye on campus!

All for now, write a new post later. Oh, and if you haven’t already, go back two posts to “Writing in the Summer: What to Do” and please participate in the poll going on there. Polls open till June 10th, so please vote.

My Favorite Slasher Killers Part 2

Posted: May 28, 2012 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Boy, doesn’t that sound like the title to a slasher sequel! But don’t worry, there won’t be any part 3 or 4 or 11 or anything. After all, I’m just doing Part 2 to cover three killers I missed last time. I also wanted a new category of posts to devote to horror-related stuff, so here’s the new category: Scary Stuff. Not exactly original, but the only thing original about slashers is what you put into them (if you think about that it does ring true).

DEATH

The film poster for “Final Destination” because as I’ve said, there’s no picture of Death.

Of all the slashers I’ve ever seen, this one has got to be the most supernatural of them all. I mean, how can you top Death Itself? And the kicker is you never see Death, except for a shadow reflected in certain surfaces. Most of the time you only see his handiwork, Rube Goldberg-like plots that kill anyone who evades Death when it deems you have to die. So creepy.

I’ve only seen the first Final Destination and parts of the second, but definitely see the first. It will blow your mind (not literally!).

THE MINER

Also known as Harry Warden, this killer hails from the Canadian film My Bloody Valentine and its remake. Nobody knows who is really behind that miner’s mask; is it the madman Harry Warden, who went on a rampage one Valentine’s Day and threatened to kill anyone should they try celebrating Valentine’s Day again? Or is it a copycat, someone demented enough to dawn that miner’s suit and kill all the teens in town?

I’ve only seen the remake so far, which but for the ending was good. However, I hear the good one is the original, which I hope to get my hands on soon. Hopefully before the next Valentine’s Day.

The Miner in the remake. Freaky!

GHOSTFACE

Ah, the Scream movies. Wait…let’s start that over. AAAAAAH! The Scream movies! Much better.

Bringing a renaissance to the slasher genre, Ghostface was the killer in every Screamfilm, and each time the person (not just the actor, but the character too!) behind the mask was a different character and had different reasons for wanting to kill main character Sydney Prescott and everyone around her. The killer wears a Grim Reaper cloak and a mask based on Edvard Munch’s The Scream (oh, that makes so much sense), which in the Scream universe is a costume available at any costume store. Also, the killer uses a special device that changes his/her voice to a single, murderous voice and calls the victim before killing them.

Ghostface; he’s much scarier than he looks.

The Scream films were part slasher, part mystery (who was doing the killing and why?) and part satire, as they examined all the conventions of previous famous slasher films, used them, and made fun of them. Still, don’t think these films are comedic–they’re anything but. If you want comedy, see the parody film Scary Movie, which is mostly based on Scream.

I reccommend the first two films, as they were good and scary. The other two just feel recycled, unfortunately.

CONCLUSIONS

So, here are my favorite slashers. If you want to know what makes a good slasher film, let me know. Otherwise I plan to not write again on this subject for a while so as not to scare off any conservative readers. All for now. Bye.

Oh, and check out my last post so as to vote in the poll I’ve set up, if you haven’t already.

Writing in the Summer: What to Do?

Posted: May 27, 2012 in ideas, Novel, Writing
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Alright everyone who reads this blog or comes across it, I’m going to need your help. Wait, don’t click away! This is very easy. You just need to give me your opinion. It’s simple, it’s painless, all you need do is read the post and then answer a question. Not so scary now, huh?

Well, I’m trying to get my novel Reborn City picked up by an agent, and I’ll have some time to write this summer. However, I don’t want to start RC’s sequel yet, not until the book has at least been picked up by an agency, and I don’t always have ideas for short stories on hand (if only I did!). So I’m going to spend the summer working on a novel. Problem is, of all my ideas I’m having trouble choosing between two of them. To me, they’re both really good ideas, the characters would be awesome to work with, the research would be fun for me, and it’d be a way to polish my skills while I’m out of classes.

I just need to choose! So I’m leaving it up to you, oh-so helpful blog readers and writers. I’m having trouble setting up a poll with WordPress, so you guys are going to have to leave comments down below to participate. I’m counting on you. I also don’t mind if you tell me your reasons for picking that answer.

Here are the options:

1. A serial killer is roaming New York City and going after the mafia. Why is he doing this, and why do we want to root for him? That’s the intrigue to this story that’s inspired by Taken and inspired heavily by slasher films.

2. A young girl with a horrific past becomes the center of a manhunt when she discovers a secret plot involving some of the nation’s top intelligence officers. How does she become embroiled in this serious plot, and how does it hearken back to her dark past? I can’t remember what inspired this story, but I definitely have a soft spot for the main character.

Alright folks. Vote away. The poll ends June 10, my birthday and the day summer vacation officially starts for me. I won’t accept any comments after that. Good luck and thank you!

 

Review: Men In Black III

Posted: May 27, 2012 in Review
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Men in Black III movie poster

I’m skeptical of most movies involving time travel. Besides the fact that I loathe the concept (just too much moral considerations, and that’s after you can get past all the considerations involving what could happen if…? It plays too much of the mind), it’s a really tough concept to sell to critics and moviegoers, especially considering how much we know about [the impossibility of] time travel.

Thankfully Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin did not disappoint. They were funny, they were serious, they were actually kind of sweet, and they balanced it all out very well. There were only two problems I had with the film: Will Smith did not do his signature, high-toned “Whoo!”; and the ending involving K’s tip and the satellite/meteor collision made no sense (I doubt the guys who write Touch would be able to make those two connect!). Other than that, the film definitely deserves it’s 4.7 out of 5.

Oh, and when you go to see the film, you will have the added delight of seeing the preview of the new Bond movie SkyFall. Check it out, it’s awesome!!! I’m geeking out already.

My Favorite Slasher Killers

Posted: May 25, 2012 in Review
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One of the bloggers I follow, and who follows me, storiesbywilliams, often posts lists of his favorite science-fiction related things. His blog posts are usually long and well thought-out, and you can see the time and energy he puts into his posts. I could never match him in that, but I do think I’d like to take a page out of his book today with this post.

So, why is this post about my favorite slashers and the killers in them? (Slashers, for those of you who do not know, are films that rely on plenty of blood, guts, gore, and killing in order to get the scares and has very little character development. The villains are usually human, however they are usually very strong, do not react much to pain or injury, and are usually psychopathic, insane or outside what is considered the normal frame of mind for a human being. Supernatural abilities are optional in these films.) Well, I got out the remake of Halloween by Rob Zombie from the library today and I couldn’t help but think about all the slasher films I’ve seen. There are good ones and there are bad ones out there, but the point is, there are a lot of these films, and I think it’d be interesting to point out some of my favorites and recommend which films you should see, if you are so inclined to watch those films.

Note: I’ll be pointing out specific killers instead of franchises and only afterward will I point out my favorite films from the franchises themselves. This is because the most successful of these franchises tend to have iconic and very scary killers, and few slashers have become memorable without a famous killer. I would also like to point out that I have not seen every film in every franchise, as sometimes these films are very old, and the DVDs they are on become worn with use. Just something to remember.

MICHAEL MYERS

Michael Myers in the remake.

Michael Myers is the antagonist of most of the Halloween films, which were responsible for the slasher boom of the 80s and 90s. He is easily identifiable by the ironically-bland mask he wears in every film, and murders using a kitchen knife. Diagnosed early on as a psychopath, he murders his older sister and breaks out of an asylum years later just to murder again, heading to his hometown to find his baby sister. The only person around that really grasps how evil he Michael is would be his psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis, who repeatedly tries to find Michael before he causes more damage than he’s already done.Michael was so popular that when he wasn’t featured in the third Halloween film, the filmmakers brought him back for the fourth film. He’s since starred in all the films, including Rob Zombie’s amazing remake, which delves deeper in Michael’s past and obscures the reasons why he targets his younger reasons (in the original it was just to murder her, but it’s not quite clear in the remake). I recommend both the original and the remake, the only films in the franchise I have seen, but whatever you do, don’t get the third film! Without Michael, it’s no good.

PAMELA VOORHEES

Pamela Voorhees as played by Betsy Palmer in the original Friday the 13th.

The original villain of the Friday the 13th movies, Mrs. Voorhees only appeared in the original film, but she is scary to behold. One of the few female killers in the slasher genre (as you’d expect, there isn’t many), Mrs. Voorhees was driven insane by the drowning death of her son Jason at Camp Crystal Lake. Blaming the counselors who were busy having sex instead of watching them, Mrs. Voorhees killed them and any other person who tried to set up a campground in the place where her son died. Check her out and what happens to her in the original Friday the 13th.

JASON VOORHEES

Jason first appeared in the sequel to Friday the 13th, and he didn’t gain his iconic hockey mask until the third film, but he’s been a legend ever since, and his name has been synonymous with Friday the 13th ever since.

Jason Voorhees

Suffering from a condition that causes swelling all around his head and some mental retardation, Jason supposedly drowned at camp but survived and for reasons unknown hid in the woods until the day his mother died. He then seeks revenge, killing anyone who comes near Crystal Lake. Over the course of the films, he’s died, come back to life, bent sent to hell, sent into outer space, and fought with Freddy Kreuger, all without saying more than three words. He’s also hard to hurt, and even harder to kill, which makes him a very dangerous opponent. He’s spectacular in films 2-4, but not so great in the remake, whose only good quality was that it made Jason coming back after his mother died much easier to believe. Honestly, I’d love to remake the remake.

FREDDY KREUGER

Honestly, no discussion of slasher films is complete without Jason Voorhees and Freddy Kreuger and that’s because they are so iconic! Freddy Kreuger is the villain from the Nightmare on Elm Street films, and these films are unique in that Freddy is a kind of demon who kills people in their dreams. A former child-killer who was murdered by vigilante parents, Freddy came back to murder teenagers and kids in a nightmarish version of the power plant he died in. And since nobody can go without sleep, Freddy keeps coming after you, and you can’t stop him (or can you?). 

Freddy Kreuger in the original films

Instantly recognizable by his burned face, red-and-green striped sweater, fedora, and clawed hand, Freddy loves to kill and tell a wisecrack while he does it. Except for the remake, he was played every time by Robert Englund. In the remake he was played by Jackie Earle Haley, and given a makeover to look more like a real burn victim. Speaking of remake, it is probably my favorite of the films, and explains why Freddy kills the kids he kills, something never touched upon in the originals. The remake also stars Rooney Mara before her Dragon Tattoo fame, so it’s an added plus.

 LEATHERFACE

Texas Chainsaw Massacre may predate Halloween,but it’s still one of the legendary franchises in the genre. Famous for his mask, his cannibalistic family, and of course, his chainsaw, Leatherface is a mystery whose name and origins are only expounded upon in the remakes. Killing anyone besides his family who crosses his path, Leatherface has been described as a true monster and a crybaby

Leatherface in the remake

at the same time, but he still manages to put the scare in people. I seriously recommend the remake, which is way better than the original and had a more satisfying feeling (don’t ask me what that means, just watch and compare the two films if you’re curious). 

PINHEAD

Last but certainly not least, we have Pinhead from the Hellraiser films. One of a race of beings called the Cenobites, Pinhead has been in every film and has grown more and more into the antagonist role with each one. Cenobites all seem to wear leather, they live in an alternate dimension which can only be accessed by solving a demonic puzzle box, they have various sharp objects pounded into their faces and bodies, and their favorite activity involves stealing souls which they subject to sadomasochistic experiments that have no clear purpose. 

Pinhead was originally a human colonel in the British army, but after solving the puzzle box he became a Cenobite, and has tortured and killed many over the course of his career. Once or twice he has remembered his more human side, but that never lasts long and soon he’s back to his old habits of chaining people up and destroying their bodies and souls. 

Pinhead, in all his gruesomeness.

The series has been so popular that talks of remaking the original films have been going on for years. I recommend the first two films; they’re the only ones I’ve managed to get my hands on, but they are still wicked scary, and not just because of Pinhead, but because of some of the other characters in the films.  

CONCLUSIONS

Okay, so I’ve finished this post, and besides learning that I like to write shorter posts, I’ve also had a chance to possibly reccommend some new films to watch. If you see one of these films, let me know what you think of the killers. And if you have another killer that I didn’t add, let me know (just don’t say the Leprechaun; that movie sucked! How did it get five sequels?). That’s all for now, I’m off to watch the remake of Halloween. Thanks to storiesbywilliams for being the guiding light in the writing of this post. How you manage to write these posts each day is beyond me, it’s so different than writing a short story or a novel.

The Best Lines I’ve Heard In A Movie So Far

Posted: May 22, 2012 in ideas, Writing
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“Imagine you knew you were going to do something great. Something amazing. Perhaps the greatest thing anyone has ever done. Only there’s a catch: something terrible has to happen.”

Those lines are direct from Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which I’m watching right now on my computer for the first timem and I may have gotten them a little mixed up in the translation, but what they say rings true: whether you know or you don’t know that you’re going to be a hero or a savior or just a protagonist in a story, something terrible has to happen to you. It’s true of so many literary characters: Harry Potter loses his parents and vanquishes Voldemort (twice!); Alex Cross has to take down the worst psychopaths imaginable, albeit risking the lives of his friends and family, and his social life, with every case; and Van Helsing, John Harker, and Mina Harker have to defeat Dracula, risking their lives and their humanities along the way.

Truly, the lines above ring true in so many stories. Heck, in many of the stories I plan to write (and am currently writing) terrible things happen before the hero rises up to save the day. God, I wish I could tell you the things in my stories that happen, both what the protagonists do, and the terrible events that precede what they do. Unfortunately, telling you what happens would give away the plots of too many stories, so that’s out. Still, the fact that the theme above is in so many stories, whether they be mine or someone else’s, proves how important this theme is to writers across time and space.

I’d like everyone’s thoughts on this subject, along with other examples where something terrible must happen before a character can become a hero (can be a book, TV show, comic book, or movie character, I don’t really care).

Helpful Feedback

Posted: May 21, 2012 in Writing
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As a writer hoping to be a professional, there’s one thing you must absolutely have, and that is feedback. We all hate it, we never like it when someone takes something we have poured our hearts and souls into get torn apart by someone else, usually someone who doesn’t have the same kind of experience with the art of storytelling we do. However, when you can find the right person to critique you, they can be a gold mine of help.

I have a few people whom I rely on for help with my stories. Just today I was talking to one of them on the phone about a thriller story I’d written and he pointed out things that I’d forgotten, hadn’t considered, or suspected about the story that kept it form being the best it could be. Regardless to say, in just those few short sentences, my eyes had opened up and I thought of things that could be done to improve the story. So tonight, if I can find the time, I will edit the story and hopefully have it in better shape than the rough draft.

After all, I enjoyed writing this story and I have high hopes for it. Perhaps then it’ll be ready for publication.

Oh, and to all of you whom I regularly rely on for feedback, thanks for the help. I can’t say it enough times, how your critiques are essential to my writing craft and how much they improve the plot of the stories I write, My metaphorical hat is off to you.

Post-It Note Prank: Why This High School Is Overreacting.

Posted: May 16, 2012 in Living and Life
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So I log onto my computer barely five minutes ago, planning to check my email and whatever before I start on the last bit of homweork for today. On AOL News, I see this article about students getting suspended for a senior prank. Curious, I click on it. What I found shocked me: a bunch of students had come into their high school over the weekend with the help of the custodian, and they had preceded to cover up the hallway in colorful little sticky notes. For that, they got suspended for being in the school after hours without permission and the custodian was fired for helping.

Funny thing though: my junior year of high school, the graduating seniors did the same thing to my high school and got away with it! I’m not kidding, they came back from a convention (most of the school belongs to the same regional youth group, and the school sets a few short weeks based on these conventions) and went through the school putting up sticky notes. One of the teachers, who was chaperoning the convention, later was heard saying, “Oh, so that was why they were all agreeing to meet up at Staples!”

Those seniors didn’t get in trouble for it, and I could understand why; it was hilarious! Imagine walking into the high school wing of the school and seeing the entire hallway covered in sticky notes! It’s a gas. The only thing the seniors really had to do was clean up the mess after a day or two.

So do I think the high school in the news article is overreacting? Yes, I do! It was a harmless prank, and the worst thing that could happen would be that the sticky notes wouldn’t get put in a recycling bin. The students shouldn’t have been suspended, and that janitor should be allowed back with retroactive pay and a bonus. Apparently, some of the students at the school agree with me too, because they’ve been having sit-down protests since this whole thing started. Go get ’em, guys!

I’m putting the article’s link below. Tell me what you think after you read it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/post-it-note-prank-cascade-high-school_n_1521649.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D161526

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