9 July 2014

One of the main differences between reading a novel and a short story is that with the novel, you come to get familiar with the characters. As in a feature film or a TV series. Then in writing a short story, not only should you grab the reader's interest within the first few paragraphs, but you must get the reader acquainted with and in agreement and interest with the character or characters themselves. Why should the reader care about your character, in such a short time? It would be not only because they're curious as what's going to happen in the story, but also because they like and feel like they KNOW the character. 

So it's not just "what's going to happen to Bob" with regards to this ghost that's following him around, which tells him unless he gets up the balls to ask that girl out on a date, that it's going to either continue to torment him or go over to the girl's place and tell her himself that Bob has a crush on her. It's also that Bob drinks too much Coca-Cola while doing his homework at night and never finishes any homework he ever starts, and he tries countless pimple-fixing-products on his face but none of them ever seem to work.

One of the earliest tasks in a short story, and not a lot of time to do it.

3 July 2014

I swear life is like a story. But I guess it has to be that way. Better than "nothing happening". Even that one commercial about life, paper clips, highway traffic, etc. (if you remember that one), says life can be crazy. 

I swear life is exactly like a story - something good happening over here, then over there something going wrong or not going right. In one area stats go up, and another they drop, it's all like life is a game. All the dynamics of life. 

I'm cogniting as I write this that it IS IS IS a game – if it wasn't it would be boring as hell. If it all was going smooth all the time everywhere, and nothing ever going up or down, you might as well not even be alive. All you have to do is be ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME, and make games. I don't think it means that everything is going right everywhere all the time. Otherwise there would be no Supreme Test.

With life like a story, even Robert McKee (screenwriting author) says with stories, that when conflict gets handled on one dynamic or in one area, something else pops up somewhere else on another dynamic or area. Otherwise, NOTHING is happening. And I swear life is like that. 

And like LRH says in Problems of Work – THERE MUST BE A GAME.

We always try to "catch up" and "get it all done", but soon as we catch up, there's more. We are constantly on the move. I guess the only real chill time for a guy, at least at this point, is Sunday nights :)