What Charmed has taught me about storytelling

I want to start by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with the show Charmed. I never watched it when it was in its original run, but I caught reruns on TNT when waiting for Supernatural to come on. I remember thinking that the show was cool at first and then quickly growing bored with it. I can even remember a conversation that I had with one of my coworkers about it. They asked me why I didn't like the show and I thought it was more of a 'monster of the episode' show where the same thing happens every episode. It was one of those shows that were just entertaining enough for me to watch on a day when I didn't feel like thinking about much. I always wanted to like the show (since it clearly wanted to showcase strong women). I recently saw that Charmed was on netflix and thought to myself 'what the heck, I'll give it another chance'. I'm kind of glad that I did give it another chance because it taught me a lot about storytelling. One of the things I struggled with while writing Zombie Bite was character development and just development over time. Charmed has development, witches struggling to balance their personal wants and needs with what is expected of them. In almost every episode one of the sisters gets a new power or something happens to them that they have to explore. I really enjoyed seeing how that was handled. It wasn't like 'Prue got a new power and suddenly she knows what to do with it', it was more like Prue got a new power and she's struggling to control it. Anyway, Charmed has taught me a lot more than I would have thought it would upon the second viewing.

Casual Saturday: Power Rangers Fan Film

I wasn't able to post yesterday, but there was still something I wanted to post about. When I was younger I loved the power rangers. I was even a power ranger for Halloween in forth grade. Now that I'm an adult, I find myself looking forward to the upcoming reboot, so when I heard about the fan film that was getting so much attention I had to check it out. I wish I could say I liked it. I think the majority of people who watched it did like it. I think the biggest problem that I had with the fan film is that the power rangers always fought aliens, in this it took place after some sort of war against the machines. The film had no zordon or alpha, no Goldar or Lord Zedd. The story was lacking, the acting wasn't as great as it could have been, but it was a power ranger movie so I suppose it's ok. I didn't believe any of the people in the roles that they were in. This did not feel like a power rangers movie. The power rangers has always been a little goofy, and that is part of it's charm. I would love to see a dark power rangers film that still had the charm of the original show. What's wrong with fighting some villains and then hanging out at Angel Grove High? That's what the original rangers did. What's wrong with Bulk and Skull being goofy? Maybe the fan film was too gritty for me.

Write reviews, but don't bash books

Around this time last year the Twilight craze was almost dying down, but I'm sure there are Twilight memes all over the web. I've done my share of Twilight dissing, even though I haven't read the books or seen the movies, but I regret that. No, I haven't suddenly read the book, or even picked up the book. I read a comment that the writer made when asked if she'd ever return to the Twilight world. She said that if she did it would be three paragraphs saying who died. I was shocked. I think that an author should love the world they build. I love the worlds I build, but I am aware that there are things I can do to improve them. That's why I plan to read my negative reviews. The reader doesn't just dislike a book for no reason. It might not be what they read on a regular basis, or the author might have overlooked something/left something out/written something offensive/created an annoying character. That doesn't mean that you should bash the author or their work. Even if you don't like it, it's still something that someone spent their time writing. Someone found an idea that they loved and stuck with it until they had a story. It's still something that someone put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

Do people shop the same way they review books?

Maybe I've been in retail for too long, but I think there's a link between the way people shop and the way they review books. I've recently been reading book reviews of authors who are self-published (like I plan to be). I wanted to know what I should expect when the time comes to release my book into the world. Every review I've read, the good, the bad, and the ugly, have all been like customers I've had. There's the customers that don't want to be bothered, they probably won't review at all. The customers who look at the item from every angle: the reviewers who pick the book apart. The customer who happily asks for suggestions: the reviewer who reads and comments on other people's reviews. I think the customers/reviewers who are open to suggestions are my favorites and that's probably the category I fall under when I shop or review. I'm always looking for something new to read so if you have any suggestions just leave a comment. There's the customer who knows what they want and often leave happy: the reviewer who reads the same types of books or authors all the time. Then there's my least favorite, the customer who finds a blemish and wants something free. This type of customer is equal to a review who isn't reviewing the actual book, but instead something like the font size or formatting. They don't actually review the book, but they do give it a negative amount of stars. I hate seeing that type of review for anyone's book, but I know I'm bound to get a few of those myself. Despite that, I'm still looking forward to starting my journey and living my dreams.