Alphas

I caught season one premier but missed the last episode of season one so I had catching up to do.
First off season one left me a bit flat. Watching the actors go through their roles was stiff and cumbersome, but I’ve noticed many good shows have the same problem. In its first season NCIS LA’s cast suffered the same disconnect from their characters. The show is rock solid now.

Watching the cast of Alphas in the first season was much the same, like a man in an ill fitting suit. The actors were still  figuring out their powers and how best to display  their character's and their powers in a believable manner.

Season two was much better. The cast is solid and seem comfortable in the personas’ of the alter egos. The story line for this seasons premier left me wishing I had viewed the season one closer. I was lost for a few minutes but caught up as the actors moved on set. The action well done.

Alphas is an ambitious series and owes a lot to X-Men. Thought it's heros' abilities are, to say the least, very off beat. Cameron is still struggling to control his abilities. I especially like Ryan Cartwright’s character, Gary Bell. He plays an autistic man who can see and hear elector-magnetic transmissions of any kind, radio, cell phones, television, or Internet. The ultimate hacker, a sort of virtual walking net book.

I’m not sure I’d want Nina's ability to ‘Push’ people into doing something I want, too easy to abuse and get someone killed.

They never indicated if the chip was removed from Gary’s neck, which begs the question will someone be able to manipulate him in the future. After the build up of the attraction between Cameron (Warren Christie) and Nina (Laura Mannell) I want to know why they’re ticked off at one another. How will the drugs given to Dr. Rosen (David Strathairn) will affect him, if at all. How is the team going to pull it together after the separation. I enjoy this show and look forward to the answers in future episodes.

Warehouse 13

Warehouse13 is back on the air. Pete (Eddie McClintock and Myka (Joanne Kelly) are great as a team. Solid writing and plot. Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) and Atrie's (Saul Rubinek) relationship as always is fun to listen to and watch.
Brother Adrian, (Brent Spiner), the enigmatic leader of a clandestine organization called the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Black Diamond, connected is someway to the Knights Templar. Brother Adrian arrives on the scene while Artie and Claudia art trying to recover Magellan's sextant so they can restore "Warehouse 13" destroyed in the third-season finale.

For you neophytes Warehouse 13 is a government-run repository of supernatural, historically and/or mythological artifacts. During the destruction several members of the Warehouse 13 team killed.

The survivors include Secret Service Agents Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer as well as their boss, Artie Nielsen, along with Claudia and and Lena (Genelle Williams) Pete, Myka, Atrtie and Claudia contemplate utilizing a particularly powerful artifact to rewrite history and restore things to the way they were. The four take off with less than 24 hours to complete their quest.  Having the team picked off one at a time so Artie has to bear the burden of Brother Adrian's dire pronouncement is a great plot twist. Brother Adrian also wants that artifact, though, his reasons aren't clear, yet.

The cast has great on screen chemistry. The writing is solid and stories well plotted and executed.
I have to say Bernt Spiner (Star Trek's, Data) is a favorite of mine. I always tuned in to if the writer's of Star Trek TNG were going to twist Data personality and how they would do it. I lost count (53 three personality changes was my last) of how many times they messed with Data's mind. One episode displayed Spiner talent when he played three parts on screen at the same time, Data, his father Doctor Noonien Soong, and Data's evil Brother Lore.

Fly Like A Bird

To fly like a bird. Man has dreamed of taking flight from ancient times.

From the Islamic Times 1998.
The story of two men’s attempts at gliding. In 852 AD a Moor in Cordoba, Spain, Armen Firman, constructed a wing-like cloak with the intention of using the garment to glide. Jumping from a tower in Cordoba, Firman survived with only minor injuries because his wing-like garments caught enough air to break his fall.
Probably inspired by this attempt In 875 AD, twenty-three years after Armen Firman's flight, Abba Ibn Firnas designed and built a flying machine which was capable of carrying a human being.

In Greek mythology, Icarus , the Latin spelling, conventionally adopted in English, is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. The main story told about Icarus is his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned.

Leonardo Di Vinci was condemned as a hereticBy the church for daring to believe man could fly. Leonardo persisted.
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/leonardo.html
Science Fiction writers would have us strap a jet engine to our back and away we go. Manned flight and gliding over long distances. The stuff of science fiction, right. Not really. Where is this all leading? From science fiction to science fact.

In 1965 movie Thunderball, James Bond flew an actual jet pack (Well a stunt man did.)

A while back a friend sent me a youtube link to Jet Man. Yves Rossy took a jet powered flight over the Grand Canyon in May 2011 using the Breitling wing. If you haven’t seen this spectacular man and his flight click on this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgdIE2t8QkM

I heard about flying suits but the first time I saw one used was in the Laura Croft movie ‘Cradle Of Life. Angelina & Gerard’s characters used the flying suit to escape from a high rise in Hong Kong. Click on the link and check out this flying suit flight.
http://vimeo.com/15479617
Can we be far from the time when personal air craft will be as common as Luke speeder from Star Wars and cost abut the same as a luxury car

Difference Between Viewpoints

Difference between viewpoints –This was the hardest thing for me to grasp as I started to write. I worked on this for a long time to conquer POV because viewpoint it can be very confusing. When you discuss viewpoint you are referring to how the story is told. You have to decide whether it will be told from a first person, third person omniscient, or third person limited. Those three are the main viewpoints that stories are told from. Each viewpoint has its pros and cons. The decision of what viewpoint to ell your story from depends largely on the type of story you’re attempting to tell, your writing style, and the message you wish to convey. If you want a personal more intimate story, first person is often the choice. Though many writers hate the use of first person as they claim it’s too repetitious and confining. (If you’re not familiar with stories told in this viewpoint check out Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone Series.)

Personally I prefer third person omniscient The story can be told from the viewpoint of one character but can shift to another when your protagonist is injured or out of the scene and you need to story to carry on. Otherwise if your next scene jumps to what your character is seeing. Third person omniscient is harder because you must to tell the story from the viewpoint of several different characters and not confuse the reader.

If you choose this POV I would make one suggestion, read books written in this style. (Raymond E Fiest’s Riftwar Saga is a good example. Fiest uses the lives of multiple character to tell his tale.) Writers who use this technique usually change POV by starting a new chapter. This gives the reader a break in thought and it is less confusing.
Most writers prefer the third person limited the reason is simple. It is the easiest and most compelling viewpoint, in their opinion.

There is also second person viewpoint but rarely will you read a story or book told this way. Second person is the least commonly used POV in fiction, though there are a few examples. However, second person viewpoint does exist, so at least learn what it entails.

Second person point of view, the narrator tells the story to another character using "you"; The story is being told through the addressee's point of view. Tom Robbins's Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas is one example of a novel told in second person. Many of the stories in Lorrie Moore's book Self-Help are also written in the second person.
But the main thing is, once you start a story from one viewpoint stick with it. Otherwise you lose your credibility with the reader and most often will not find yourself published. Besides, it is confusing as a new writer to try and switch between viewpoints. However, seasoned pros often do this and do it well.

Pretend your POV character’s eyes are a camera This is the best way to phrase what I am trying to get across. It has to do with creating characters and setting. The first rule of creative writing is SHOW, DON’T TELL. Say your character enters a room for the first time. You want you reader to know what the character looks like, not by telling them specifically, but my mentioning things that they do and their body language, their habits–maybe they stumble, making them a clumsy person, or they could be cutting their eyes, which creates an aura of untrust – the way they are dressed, etc. This creates their personality for the reader without you having to explain the kind of person that they are. And you want the reader to feel like they are in the setting by describing the surroundings, much like they were watching a movie. You don’t want to go overboard by taking away from the character or the story, but mentioning things that are in the room, setting the scene, helps your reader visualize and makes the story real. A writer must convey what a person is thinking by showing emotions, like fear, anger, excitement. Through the use of facial expressions, body language and actions.

Avoid the use of purple prose – Wikipedia describes purple prose this way: "purple prose is a literary criticism. It is used to describe passages, or sometimes entire literary works, written in prose so overly extravagant, ornate or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself. Purple prose is sensuously evocative beyond the requirements of its context. It also refers to writing that employs certain rhetorical effects such as exaggerated sentiment or pathos in an attempt to manipulate a reader’s response."

The lesson here is not to fall so in love with your own writing that you lose your reader. Taking advantage of apt metaphors and similes is great but use them sparingly, they are required, for great writing.

The advise given by Mark Twain in his letter to D.W.Bowser in 1880 is appropriate here. "I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice."

Thus we move on to the next tip:
Edit, edit, edit and edit some more. Different writers find different formulas for editing. Some edit as they go wanting the page finished before they move on to the next verses. Others insist that the only way they can work creatively is to just start writing. They let the words flow they go back and flush out the details. I work both ways but it will take a while to figure out what works best for your style. No matter what kind of editor you are, make sure of one thing, NEVER allow a story to contain misspelled words or wrong grammar. Also, punctuation and format are crucial to getting your story published. Start now at the outset and consider yourself a professional, Even if you haven‘t been published, act like a pro and you will become one.

 But the main thing I am talking about when I mention editing is getting rid of the fluff, the unnecessary words, characters, scenes, etc. Ever good writer creates several drafts of his or her work before they consider their story complete. Also after you have edited your story to the best of your ability have someone you trust else read your manuscript. Not someone who will tell you haw good it is but someone who will point out the weak or bad parts. I have found over time that I tend to read what I think I wrote and many times not what is actually on the page. Every great writer has an editor.

Rarely if ever will you hear of a writer, no matter how famous, who writes a story in one draft. Most writers have to create at least three or four drafts of a story before they are satisfied that it is right. Don’t be satisfied until it is.

Erueka Finale

All good thing come to an end, and so it is with the SYFY series Eureka. The final show had all the elements that made the show a must watch for me every week. Some out of control piece of technology was about to destroy the town and as usual Jack had to throw himself (literally) into his job to prevent the disaster. Along the way Fargo figures out how to save the town and get his girl back. Matt Frewer along with other made cameos, and a lot of loose ends were wrapped up.

While I think SYFY made a mistake canceling the show the cast did a wonderful job of making us feel good about the end and yet life goes on, we just won’t be there to see it. I understand the cancellation of shows, is a financial decision, but to drop a show and leave the characters hanging (Alien Nation, The Finder) to name a few is uncalled for, finish it up and walk away. They did it with Monk, In Plain Sight, The Closer, Burn Notice, Etc.

I’m not talking about closure, just end the show on a high note and life goes on, it always does. That my take anyway.

Couple of Sound Bytes

To reword and old adage from Vietnam for my government. "Spending money you don’t have to achieve prosperity is like newlyweds copulating to achieve virginity."

Like to thank anonymous on the internet for this one - Profanity: a feeble minds attempt to express itsself forcibly

Dialogue Tags vs Descriptive Beats

In any good ‘how to write fiction’ book you’ll find at least one chapter if not two on the use and formatting of dialogue. Since dialogue can reveal a writer’s strengths or weaknesses, crafting good dialogue can be difficult. There are many pitfalls that writers can stumble into with dialogue.

There are skills you can develop to strengthen your dialogue. I would like to offer some insights into dialogue tags, descriptive beats in place of tags, and how to punctuate them. While these mechanics aren’t actually dialogue, they do draw attention to it and can influence how your readers will read a character’s dialogue and draw a reader into your story.

Definition.
Dialogue tag: A manner of speaking. Comes before or after dialogue.

Eg:
she said.
he shouted.

I find there are two common mistakes or misconception we all have with the use dialogue tags.

First: Being afraid to use said or asked.
Second: Believing said or asked becomes repetitive.

As a result, many writers have their characters constantly, stating, shouting, mumbling, murmuring, whispering, responding, commenting or commanding. When we feel the need to explain how a characters says something, then his or her dialogue isn’t strong enough. At the other end of the spectrum, if your dialogue is strong enough, then your tag only repeats to the reader what your character has just shown them.

There is a time and place for non said or asked dialogue tags. The excessive use of these tags is considered weak writing.

I've asked and heard the question asked, "Doesn’t the use of ‘said’ or ‘asked’ become repetitive and boring?"

The short answer is: No. As writers we are attuned to words. We pay attention to them. But if you’re doing you job right, the average reader is engrossed in the story and connected to the characters. A reader's eyes tends to pass over ‘said’ or ‘asked.’ If these tags stand out, it usually means your narrative isn’t being woven sufficiently into the dialogue.
Another mistake is over using the said or asked tags when there are only two characters in the scene. An occasional tag should be used in a long scene of dialogue to help the reader keep track of who is speaking. In scenes with more then two characters a combination of dialogue tags and descriptive beats will keep the story moving and the reader engrossed.
In his book ‘The Sixteenth Man" Thomas B. Sawyer’s entire manuscript is written without a single dialogue tag. Rather, Tom effectively uses descriptive beats for two person dialogue and for scenes with multiple character

Definition.
Descriptive beat: A sentence before, after, or breaking up dialogue that describes a character’s response or action.
Eg:
Janet finished brushing her hair. "I’m ready for my close up."

Len held out a steaming mug."Coffee, Mark?"
These examples are very basic. You can effectively eliminate all or most dialogue tags by weaving descriptive beats into your dialogue. However, any writer must be cautious about the use of descriptive beats. You need to pick quality descriptions, ones that reveal a character’s personality, motivation or adds to the setting and feel of the story. Having a characters make too many meaningful glances, or smiles, or nods will make your descriptions feel repetitive and unoriginal.

Another area easy to fix, that will strengthen your writing is punctuation.
Dialogue tag: "Hand me that book," he asked. (Comma inside the quotation marks)
Descriptive Beat: He pointed to the tome. "Hand me that book." (Period inside the quotations)
It’s as simple as paying attention to what you’re writing. Ask yourself this question. Is this a way of speaking? If yes, then punctuate with a comma. If no, use a period.
A final note, there are always gray areas. Groaned for example, is it a way of speaking or a noise made?
"Oh no," he groaned.
"Oh no." He groaned.
This is where you, the writer, has ultimate control of your story, by determining the best way to use the rules of the craft to tell your tale.

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Send comments or questions to richard@mesatyree.com

Watch Your Language

One of the jobs I had in my younger days was doing mobile home maintenance for  Palm Harbor Homes. On a trip down to Yuma Arizona, I was traveling with Bill. The entire way to Yuma he pontificated on the deterioration of the English by our young people.

Never mind that English is one of the most fluid adaptive languages. How many words have been added to our vocabulary since the dawn of computers, (CPU, Motherboard, Daughterboard, RAM, NIC, USB, firewire, DVD/DVDRW, email, etc.) Science Fiction Books and movies have added to the growing lexicon.

Keep Your Writing, Your Records in Order

Due to some additional pages in the record we discovered we moved several scenes around in Second Genesis today. This is turning out to be an intense process due to some problem in the past that jumbled the records. We have found pages out of order and this has caused delays, due to confusion as to what event came when. Second Genesis has had the most problem as these records are the earliest we have.

A word of caution. Date everything you write especially journal entries. You never know when you might have to refer to them.

Rewrite

Making good progress on both The Adam Eradication rewrite and Second Genesis. The latter is where the whole MacKenna Sage begins. A tale that shows the long term effects of the lust of power and where it could ultimately lead any civilization.