Archive for May, 2009
May 14th, 2009
A dear friend of mine and also writer that I refer to as “Olson” posed an interesting thought to me tonight. Since my brain is still fried over the Grey’s Anatomy finale (holy cow!) I thought I’d pass it on to the readership. Man, I love interaction.
Basically (I’m sorry if I get your arguement wrong – please correct me!) he says that bad boys are not actually cooler than your goody-two shoes. If they are cooler, it is because the writer has not taken enough time to make the good guy interesting. It is easier to make a angsty character have depth the same way it is easier to paint with contrasting colors. Your good guy is all shades of blue. You can still make an interesting picture in shades of blue, it’s just more difficult.
I thought it was some interesting food for thought. I also tend to wonder whether “boring” goodie twos are written so purposely so that our loyalties will be with the more angsty person, or if it just happens. Likely both things happen, but now I think I’ll be looking for it the same way I psychoanalyze font choices on book covers. (It’s a terrible, terrible habit.)
Anyway, any thoughts you might have would be grately appreciated. I’d enjoy hearing them. I’m also roughly sketching out a scenario that, oddly enough, features a strongly cynical character and a strongly “goody two shoes” character. So probing the minds of all you fine folks might just help me out with that.
*Hopefully* there will be a bit of fiction up tomorrow/today. Let’s hope!
May 13th, 2009
So Monday and today, I’ve ventured up to the local Panera bread for a bagel, some tea, and to write. Now, I’m not sure if it’s panera or if it’s the town we live in, but someone slipped some crazy into the air vent. The town we live in, for the record, is a bit on the “upper middle class” side of things. Husband and I don’t fit this bill, but the apartment was affordable and nicer than what we were living in, so we giggle and point at people in their fancy hummers, carrying coach purses.
Anyway. Monday was a bit crowded, but I found a seat. Yuppie 1 and Yuppie 2 were in a booth talking. The person that we’ve come to know as Yuppie 3 showed up – not to meet them, but it was obvious he knew them. He sat at a table across the aisle from the other Yups. They proceeded to have a very loud conversation before Yuppie 3 finally scooted his chair over. Eventually, Yuppie 2 left and number 3 went back to his table, where he answered more phone calls than I get in a week. Each time, he would hang up and report the results of the phone call to Yuppie 1. Now, before you assume that they worked together and he was filling in the first guy on important work details, here’s how one of the conversations went:
“Hey. I’m not supposed to tell you this, but X’s wife is an alcoholic. She was arrested last night for driving up the wrong side of the highway…..He’s going to a retreat this weekend and she’s coming – but he can’t even drink in front of her!”
Oh, you silly men.
Now, today, I got to Panera bright and early. Two people down in the laptop section with a third table occupied. Dude number one is boring, so we’ll focus on the interesting one. He’s sitting at a table with his laptop, case, and plate with cream cheese remnants. Diagonal from him is a table with a different brand laptop, crumpled napkin and a coat slung over the back of the chair and a coffee mug. He is dressed in a very nice polo, pressed dress pants, complete with shiny shoes.
So imagine my surprise when, after about 5 minutes, he gets up and moves from the table I saw him at to the one diagonal from him, grabs the coffee mug and goes and refills it. Oh, I figure, he’s got a companion and he’s being nice. But no. For the past 45 minutes he has actually moved between these tables like he’s working at both. Never mind the fact that the FIRST table he’s sitting at could easily accomodate both laptops. But there’s something so unsettling about it that I don’t dare ask him what on earth is up with that.
I’m not sure if I’ll continue coming back to panera. I love getting out to write, as I do seem to have less distraction, but … the sheer oddness of the people here! They make me look really normal.
Have you encountered weird folks in your quest for writerdom? If so, please share. Or just come share a laugh at my expense. 
May 11th, 2009
My name is Sarah and I have a thing for fictional bad boys. Bad boys don’t always have to be the villains, but in an effort to keep the line between good and evil clear, that’s the role they often fill. Why? Why bad boys? My theory is it’s their complexity. Rarely do you have a bad boy who is cut and dry jerk. Usually they have some sort of dark and twisty motivation that makes them more interesting than the Mr. Clean Cut figure. The hero who is such because he wants to avenge a death or will to survive is more interesting than the hero who does good for the sake of doing good. This is why Wolverine is cooler than Cyclops, for instance. This is also why everyone loves Edward Cullen. He walks that fine line of dangerous bad boy. He could, at any second, rip Bella to shreds for her blood, but he doesn’t. And the girls swoon. The same principle can apply to real life, too. This is why people are all swoony over Adam Lambert this year. It’s not because Adam Lambert is better (sorry kids), but because he’s got that “bad boy” aura about him. You could get coffee with Danny or Kris, but Adam would take you on a motorcycle ride, to a concert, and then you’d sit backstage, sip red wine, and talk about your feelings. Or so you’d like to think.
So, you’re sitting there, stomping your foot and saying, “But I want to write a clean cut hero! I don’t want some stupid dark and twisty guy. I just want my villain to chop heads off and not think twice.” and to that say, that’s fine. The world would be a very boring place if EVERY bad guy were more interesting than the hero, or if EVERY hero had his parents die before he became epic. What’s important is their motivation. Why is MacSupermandalf going to save that woman? Sure, he can save her just because he should, but it’ll be more interesting if that woman reminds him of his little sister, who is probably five inches taller than the last time he saw her when he left to go to hero school. Or maybe he’s a complusive skirt chaser – whatever – just know that the best motivations are deeper than “because they should.”
I’m only about halfway through, but I recommend the following book: How to Read Literature Like A Professor. One of Matt’s english professors wrote it. Even if you don’t learn anything from it, it’s a really entertaining read.
I dedicate this post to the interesting fictional bad boys. The world would not be as interesting without you.
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