by Melinda Snodgrass | Sep 21, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
There’s this concept in screenwriting that we call “hanging a lantern on it”. It basically means that we point out something before it can trip up an audience. By acknowledging that we are aware of the problem/issue we reassure the audience that we know what we’re doing and they can sit back, relax and take the ride with us. It came up in my spec Edge script. I had a beta reader point out that somewhere my Prometheus character has to point out that he will use any...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jul 31, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
Since I have a computer in L.A. I don’t travel between Santa Fe and Westlake with a computer. I figure I can read and listen to music during travel times. But on this trip home I had figured out the next scene and I badly wanted to get it down. So I fell back on a technique I haven’t used in decades. I took a notebook with me and wrote it out in longhand. When I first started writing I did everything by hand and then transcribed it on the typewriter. It takes double the time...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 5, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
One of the questions over on Facebook was what was the origin of the IMPERIALS series. It was actually a reaction to the Return of the Jedi. Certainly an inferior film compared to the first two Star Wars (though it looks like Shakespeare compared to what followed). But I digress. So here we are, Victor Milan and I watching Return of the Nehi… Jedi when suddenly there’s another damn Death Star, and it’s not really only half-built, it’s a trap. I leaned over to Vic...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 5, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
We’ve been discussing my writing process over on Facebook, but I thought I’d move the discussion over here to the website. These space opera books are going together differently then my other novels. I plot very carefully, I know all the big “tent pole” scenes that need to be in a novel. I know the little fiddly bit will occur to me as a write, but on these books I finish a chapter and have often moved several chapters beyond it when a scene will occur to me that...
by Melinda Snodgrass | May 22, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
As I indicated on my Facebook page I really liked this book. Primarily because it was a character study and I read for the people not for the problem. Katherine Addison evokes the insecurities of an 18 year old who is suddenly thrust into the role of ruler when his father and half-brothers are all killed. The elven/goblin culture is fascinating with a mix of swords and airships and there is enough touch of archaic language to ground you in the world without making it difficult to read....
by Melinda Snodgrass | May 11, 2015 | The Craft of Writing, TV & Movies
I have to add an addendum to my thoughts about the Avengers flick. Apparently a lot of people are very upset about Black Widow in this film because of the scene with Bruce Banner about her inability to have children. That is not a sexist moment. Listen to the dialog. She isn’t saying she’s a “monster” because she can’t have kids. She’s saying she’s a monster because she was trained to be a killer from childhood. She’s regretful she...
