Inside the Brain of E.C. Henry

Writing Long

Hello all!  

 

Feels like I've been away from this blog for a long time.  Sorry about that.  BUT I did just finish my 28th spec. script; the raunchy romantic comedy that completes the So Go Back & Get Her franchise with So Go Back & Get Him.  

So Go Back & Get Her - 2020

Kathy Smith Conquers Duboose High School - 2021

So Go Back & Get Him - 2022

WGAw and U.S. Copyright protection is done.  So Go Back and Get Him is ready to show -- in  Lit Expression .

E.C Henry hath completed another script -- sound the bugle!

This post, however is about a tenant of screenwriting that I strongly believe in.  That's being "writing long".  Writing long means when you a writer puts out a first draft it has a page count that's much higher that that excepted norms.  Some people might see that as a bad sign.  I, however, think first drafts should be long.  I say this because as you edit, usually you want to be parsing out flat sections and coming up with more evocative sentences.  

When you write a story, you: as the writer; are always thinking about the ending.  How long's it going to be till I get there?  How big is my page count?  Is this in an acceptable range?  When you harbor secret fears like that, there is a temptation to set a mental, page count threshold point where you consider yourself "done".   After all these scripts I've written I face that temptation all them time.  In doing this so long you know the ins and outs of writing, and grueling the editing process can be.  It takes a lot of tenacity and inner fortitude to fight past this area of human weakness and fight to put out the best art you're capable of doing.

Hey, I'll be the first to admit.  I have my limits too.  You can only look at the same thing for so long before it becomes a grind.  

BUT if you write long you're actually helping your art become the best it can be.   Why?  Because you'r expanding the possibility of what could exist, and allowing the choice to be made for what good and should stay, and what's flat and bloated; and should be cut.

Taste will always factor into whether or not a story ends up being "good" or "bad" when critiqued by others.  If a writer has bad taste, it's not going to matter how long they write.  A bad writer can't distinguish between what's got some life to it, and when they're pounding a square box in a round hole. 

There's gotta be something good in there, somewhere!

I've cut a lot of material when I edit.  I think that's normal for making movies too, as I've watched lots of DVDs that had the extras that were cut and didn't make it into the theatrical release.  

Don't be afraid to write long, then edit back for a stronger story. 

That's the moral of this post.

So what's next for ol' E.C. Henry? 

Well-p, I'm going back to Thars, baby!  Time to finish the book series and subsequent screenplay adaptations.  Also have my eye on writing a coming-of-age ANIMATED script.   Need to do a little marketing of my script too.  Going to update and send in to Custom Ink a couple designs for promo shirts, as the last time I did this was like 5 years ago.  Time for new ones.  Will probably re-up with Scribophile and try to connect with novelist there too.  I let my premium membership lapse as I was knee deep in Gravesite Crows, then The Beautiful Kingdom, then So Go Back & Get Him.  There's also a local "International House of Storytellers" an exit away from where I work so I need to check that out.  The people at the Lamplight Theater never got back with me so I'm starting to think nothing will come of that.  Oh, well; at least I tried!  It's real hard to connect with your fellow creatives as we're all out there chasing our dreams.  

So, I'm still here.  Will try to improve my visibility and post more on this site.  Just realize I have a day job, and family obligations which compete for my time.  

 

Writing Romance in the Dead of Winter

NOW is always the time for a little romance.  Romance makes the heart feel good.  Sad to see so many people these days "down" on romance.  Talk to most people about this subject and the brush it away.  Not me!  I may not be romantically active, haven't been in a long, long, long-long time; but that doesn't mean I'm dead to it.  Quite the opposite, E.C. Henry thinks about chasing tail.  All.  The.  Time.

Why not?

Girls rock!

Maybe this one's looking for a little romance too...

Just kidding, that Taylor Swift, and if romance is ever dead to her

The rest of us are in big trouble.

 

Huge fan of females and what the bring to the table.  And THIS winter I'm getting in the Valentines spirit with help of Scribophile.  Scribophile is a critique site.  I've been there two week now.  Most useful thing I've found there so far is group called "MUSE".  At the prompting of one of their contests I wrote a short story, which may lead me to a 3rd script off the SO BACK & GET HER vine.  But mostly I'm using Scribophile to help me edit and improve the prose on the Thars series of novels I'm working on.

Will E.C. EVER get Thars done?  

That's a good and fair question.  I don't know.  It's so massive, and I want it to be good.  The newness of the story is long gone, and now I'm left with MASSIVE amounts of editing.  All of which I have to do.  BY.  MY.  SELF.  So, yeah it's a grind.  BUT I am making progress, just not the breakneck progress I was hoping for.  So far the critiques on Thars haven't helped much.  A lot of the writers there are hobbiests like me.  Even the one who "technically" write in the genre I'm in focus their stories on vampires and demons.  That's not me.  It will never be me.  I've critiqued several of that color of fantasy story and it's really not my cup of tea, nor are those stories I'd wanna edit in mass in a novel exchange arrangement.  

And so the search for "my tribe" continues...  Still looking for people who like godly, epic fantasy in the vein I write in.

For Valentines Day I posed a couple romance entries from book II in the Thars series, A STRANGE SENSE OF DIVINE DESTINY:

Part I is here.

While

Part II is here.

Gotta NAIL the segment.  Stories have highlights that require extra attention.  The segment where Dale and Reianne connect has to be good.  (Dale is the Thars series main protagonist, while Reianne Helms is the Elfin king's daughter that Dale falls for) 

You can also see the genesis for SO GO BACK & GET HER spin-off in my writing sample at Scribophobe.

So love and stories of love live on in the heart of this romance enthusiast.  It may be dead in society today, but I'm going to do my best to bring it back, because in my heart-of-hearts I believe it's a noble pursuit.

Celebrating women in games of courtship.

That's what I see as a bed-rock belief of romantic comedies, and I still stand for that belief.  Romance lives on--even in the dead of winter!

An Entertainless Spring

Ah... James Cameron's Avatar 2.  Will the American people EVER get to see it?!!

While driving around Western Washington today trying to find a suitable Mother's Day present for my mom I stumbled across some entertainment on the radio that took me aback.  It was a top-40 countdown of the best music in the U.S., but it wasn't from today's charts -- it was from Billboard's charts back on May 14, 1983!   Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners, Solitare by Laura Branagan, Time by Coulture Club, not one but TWO SONGS by Journey, an entry by Rick Springfield: An Affair of the Heart, two songs by Styx, and even Deff Leopards FIRST U.S. hit that was nearing top-10 territory, Photograph off their Pyromania album.  FYI, Michael Jackson's Beat It was the #1 hit that week for the third week in a row!

Wow, what a stroll down memory lane.  But why?  this is 2020, 37 years removed from this countdown.  And Casey Kasem?  Talk about a blast from the past...  I remember listening to his and RicK Dees' top-40 countdown in the 90s, normally I'd be "rooting" for a song I liked hoping it fared well.  

Hearing a re-broadcast of a music countdown from 37 years reminded me of the entertainment dearth we're in right now.  Can't go to the movies, they're all closed.  ESPN is re-broadcasting some pretty awful, past games.  The 1998 NBA all-star game?!! Really?  That's lame!

Thankfully the weather's getting nicer now so the Covid19 restrictions should be easing up.  Unfortunately much of our country is in Democrat party leadership, and NONE of those people seems to give two-shits about small business.  Rather, I think they're dragging this out in the hopes of crashing the U.S. economy.  Totally sad.  I HATE our governor, Jay Inslee.  It's because of that asshole that I have to wear a mask at work.  All construction workers do.  Ridiculous.  Totally ridiculous.  Yeah, I get it we had a health scare in mid March, but our worst fears have passed and now it's time to get back to the business of America.  Wanna live under a rock?  That's YOUR call, but there are many of us who want to get the economy going again and get life back to normal again.  It's getting warmer and the disease doesn't like that so let's open this up.  I'm ready.  It's time.

So will the Entertainment Industry ever bounce back?  Boy, I hope so!  But let's be honest, Hollywood has been FAILING America for years.  What they need is new blood, and SOME excitement.  Seriously, Hollywood needs buzz-makers.  Pro-American celebrities who sell pro-American movies.  Hollywood needs to win America back.  Will that happen?  I don't know.  A lot of celebrities don't seem to care about their fellow American brethren, and that's a shame.  That perception/reality has to change.  If it doesn't, Hollywood will continue to loose market share; and eventually a new rival will emerge to fill the need for pro-American programming.  

Not a good time to be Lisa Page.  If I were her, I would flee the country now.  Was listening to the news this week and heard that she doctored the  FBI 302 on General Flynn so help bolster the FBI's case against him.  Evidence tampering at the FBI level is an inexcusable offence.  I hope they throw the book at her, lock her up for life, and gut everything she owns to pay back General Flynn for the harm her actions brought him.  INEXCUSABLE.  I get that she didn't like President Trump.  Still, that is NO EXCUSE to falsify evidence.  Evidence tampering, Lisa Page you've got a lot of explaining to do...

I'll end this post on a high note.  This weekend in the state of Washington we had our temperatures in the high 80s!  May 9 and 10 and we're in the 80s!  Wow.  Time to start thinking about...

And after an entertainless spring, I think we all could use a little beach time!

Depth in December

They say a picture speaks a thousand words.  Well... this is CLOSE to what I image my Elfin Riders riding through as the story kicks of in earnest on Thars on the Plains Goblins seacoast in "A STRANGE SENSE OF DIVINE DESTINY": book two in the Legend in Thars series.

Okay, so I've been relatively silent on this blog for a while.  Doesn't mean I'm dead.  Doesn't mean I'm not doing anything.  No, I am doing something I'm adding DEPTH to my opus, which is A LEGEND IN THARS.

I actually have a sidebar on this blog siting the progress in this series.  Admittedly the progress has been slow.  Lots of reasons for that:

• I can't write full time.  I have to have a "real job" to support myself.  Currently I work in a yard for a construction company.  Easy work.  Isn't breaking me down.  Lends itself beautifully towards making progress on the novel series.
• I took some breaks to writing a couple screenplays.  Hey, lets face it writing the next "Lord of the Rings" series takes time.  Tolkien didn't do it overnight.  Neither will E.C. Henry.  I wrote, "When the Motorcycle Calls" and "The Commune III" when the idea for those stories "popped". They were ripe to be picked -- and I did just that!  I've found that sometimes it's needed to take a break from "big projects" and that's what I did.  Doesn't mean I abandoned Thars.  No, I'm back to it now.  Though "The Commune III" lingered wayyy longer that I thought it would.  Really put some extras in that one.  Maybe someday those efforts will pay off.  Hasn't happened so far.
• Right now I'm mostly EDITING Thars, not a lot of "creative" writing.  The story's done, been done for years.  I know how it ends and doubt I'll deviate from that, but my prose isn't strong enough right now.  And I want that to shine.  Hence, the grind...

Okay, so where do we go from here?  

Continue to work hard at it.  Add depth.  Focus on characters and making them iconic.  And yes, I think I have a bevy of special characters in Thars.  Going to try to turn the focus into the good guys of the story and build up their friendship, and how they form this bond over outside pressures that seek to keep them apart.  

Friendship.  Isn't that a good accent for stories given the current state of our world?

I think so.

E.C. is shooting for a mix something akin to this in Books 2 through 5 in THE LEGEND IN THARS book series.

So what does "depth" entail?  Well, in epic fantasy I think its depth that readers respond most to.  Why was Lord of the Rings so popular?  People could loose themselves in the rich world of Middle Earth.  I need to have that in Thars.  Need to have a rich tapestry that people could see themselves having adventures in.  There's also character depth, but in stories involving world creation I think world trumps character.  So I need to work on that.  Continue to make Thars believable; a place that adventurous souls would WANT to explore.  

And so it's on.  What can I deliver on...  

I set the bar high.  I want MY STORY to compare favorably to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" when this is all said and done.  And so I toil on.  Adding depth to the world of Thars, making it more and more like a real place that could actually exist.  I also work on an expansive character roster.  The novels aren't all I writing, also character bios.  Keeping a HISTORY of a world's characters straight is a chore, but it's a chore I'm committed to.  

The best thing about Thars is my complexity of characters.  I don't write simple stories.  Rather I believe in complexity with many moving parts going at the same time.  I don't write to pacify simpletons.  In the end, I write for myself and hope what I like rubs off on others.  

So don't get down in these highly politicized times.  There's still some adventurous souls out there working on making art that is new and exciting.  Will never be a sell-out artist.  Will always write what's on my heart to best of my ability, and NOT let in voices that are pushing a destructive agenda.  

E.C. Henry is the real McCoy; a writer committed to writing the best stories that God gives him to write.  And that will always be my focus.  God first.  Writing is what follows.  

Hope y'all are blessed this Christmas season.  Wish all who who reads this the full blessings of Christ as well celebrate His birth.  To Jesus be all glory from this day forth and forevermore!  Always remember the reason for the season.  Christ's claims trump all else:

  

The Mountain

Writing is a journey.  A lifelong journey. Having now written 22 spec. scripts, two completed novel manuscripts, and a third that's in-process, I would equate the writing process to hiking up and down mountains.  Hence, the title of this post.

Having completed "The Commune III" for that past three weeks or so I've pretty much been at the top of the mountain.  Re-reading the script doing the minor of working tweaks.  This is the top of the mountain because for intents and purposes this project, "The Commune III" is done!  A writer can ALWAYS go back and improve on past material.  The thing is you can't camp on top of the mountain.  No, eventually it's time to move on to the next project.

My frame of mind is that a writer is a writer for life.  It's what they enjoy doing.  So as a writer lives his or her life, they go through cycles as writing projects ramp up... and later, hopefully ramp down. If you're a healthy writer your writing life should be be like an extended hiking trip in the mountains.  

Right now I'm staring at an old mountain I left back in December of 2018.  The mountain of "Love at Great Cost; A Legend in Thars: Book III".  Not going to wimp out on this mountain.  No, just like all other mountains I've set out on, it's getting climbed all the way up to the top.  

Endurance.  A writer's life is one of endurance.  You gotta keep going.  Never let any of your "mountains" get the best of you either.  Climb them all.  Even if some of them take longer to climb than budgeted for.  All things said, "The Commune III" was a relatively straight forward mountain.  Saw it in late December of 2018.  And had it climbed by the middle of June, 2019.  Other "mountains" that I've endeavored to climb weren't so easy.  Lost my permit to climb on the "Planet of the Apes" script I wrote.  Still got that one in a file, but I don't know if I'll ever be allowed by the owner of that mountain to reach its peak potential.  "The Commune" was a tough mountain to climb because prior to that I had never written in a story that was so vested in the U.S. military.  "A King for God's People", though I had a rough map going in, having based on the life of Israel's king David from the text of the bible, was a challenge because it was my first adaption of previously existing source material -- and since it was based the account written in the word of God I felt I had to be careful and do the story the justice it deserved.    

The great thing about the writing life, going through projects, and reaching the top is the view from the top.  I always feel a great sense of relief when I'm there, cruising.  The hard work is all done.  All that remains is minor tweaks, and enjoying the finished product.  Listening to completed script in Final Draft is a joy.  When you internal editor can't find any more mistakes to fix, and you're just enjoying the finished product.  This is like drinking a beer after a hard day's work.  Satisfying.  

But writers are explorers by nature and no matter how in love you are with the tale you've spun eventually you're meant to start all over and take on your next challenge.  So now I'm going back to the mountain of "Love at Great Cost" and I'm going to scale that third mountain in "The Legend of Thars" range.  Moreso, I'm going to start eyeing bringing all three manuscripts into book form.  YES, that is my next goal!  Then after that the 2nd movie in the "Thars" series.  I've already got the first one done.  Yay!

The longer I'm at this the more I see the need to CELEBRATE MY SUCCESSES!  

This is E.C. Henry after he completes a script or novel.

I know what you're thinking, "E.C. you don't have any 'successes'; you're an undiscovered talent."  Trust me, I face that doubt all the time.  But one thing I do have is completed projects!  The state of the publishing world is a mess, the state of the movie-making industry is frustrating.  I may never get discovered.  But one thing that is my control to do is writing.  And finishing projects.  And that's what I aim to do.   

So yeah, I'll probably listen to "The Commune III" a few more times just for my own personal pleasure.  Always wanna enjoy the view from the top of the mountain.  But even as I stand atop this peak, my eyes are on the horizon. Realizing that I'm going to have to go down into the valley again, and WORK to climb up the mountain of "Love at Great Cost".  The beauty of all is that I'm open to doing such things.  For if you're a true writer.  It's never a one-off kind of thing.  No, the more notches you get in your belt.  The more notches you want to add. 

Writing is a journey.  Writing a climb.  But the view from the top, makes it all worth the while.

 

2nd Drafts

2nd drafts are important.  NOT as important as getting a 1st draft down, but important nonetheless.   For what's implied when a writer is writing or has written a 2nd draft is that they're taking a complete story they wrote and trying to make it better.  That the biggest purpose of a 2nd draft, making improvements on a 1st draft. 

I completed a 2nd draft of "The Commune III" on May 14th.  Been working on the 3rd draft since then.  Almost done with that too now.  After that's done I think I'll start showing it to people.  

Gators and gunfire

What could be better right?  

That's a comical hook/tagline I just thought up today.  It's not all there yet, but it's getting closer each day I chip away at it...  Back to drafts.

A 2nd draft should be a big relief for any writer.  Why?  Because it means you've already done the hardest part of writing -- writing the story in its entirety from beginning to end.  And that's what's implied when a writer says, "I've got my first draft done."  That means the author has a take on scenes, and goes through them to resolution.  Doesn't have to be great outta the gates.  That's what draftS are for.  

What you're looking to do in a 2nd draft:

1. Identify the spots that pop and make the story special.  As a writer you've gotta believe in that, and be able to find it.  Because if you can't you're in real trouble.  Because you can't expect someone to respond positively to something you've written if you don't see anything special about it yourself. 
2. Use your writer's spidey sense to tell you what areas need to be improved. About 90% of my edits are instinctual.  I just feel something's not right, maximized or belongs there.  I don't do dialog passes.  I do scene heading passes where I clean up shot headings and try to standardize them for a cleaner read. 
3. Smooth out the rough areas of your script. As you get deeper into the draft process you should be doing less of this UNLESS you get feedback from a reader that you agree with that spots something that doesn't that you missed.  ALWAYS be open to someone else's opinion, but also realize that you're the author and should be the one who knows what's best for your baby.  I do a lot of smoothing out the rough edges in a 2nd draft.  And a lot of ties in with #2, using your spidey sense.
4. Apply some rules of structure to your story.  Does it have a beginning, middle and end that has page count their you're good with?  Do you know where your ACT I Breakpoint is?  To me that a big milestone.  Why?  Because prior to that you're setting the world of your story.  The ACT I Breakpoint is where your protagonist is self-aware of the conflict he or she must face, and the rest of the story is seeing how that plays out.  I am not a slave to structure.  I see structure as the bare bones.  But its you put on those bones that matters.
5. Rewrite whatever you feel needs to be written, which will probably be most of your story.  Your 2nd draft should be much cleaner than your 1st draft..  Remember, that's one of the biggest reasons you do that.

Something else you MAY want to do in a 2nd draft or later drafts, but earlier the better, is do different takes of scenes that you don't think aren't working, or add new scenes.   You don't always get it right in your 1st draft -- even if you outline.  I write new stuff in drafts ALL.  THE.  TIME.  You should too.   That's one of the other things that good about drafting --

PLAYING

That's right playing.  Sometimes you need to try new scenes, new characters.  Always be open to that -- especially when you're spidey sense hints that's what you need to do.   The beauty of drafts is it helps you NOT TO LOSE any writing.  You can always go back to an idea once it exists on the page.  I don't do this very often,  but I find it a comfort to know that I have that in back pocket if I wanna play that card.

In the end it's all about you, and what you can deliver on the page.  The good news is, you don't have to be brilliant!  There are good days behind the keyboard and bad ones.  What you need to develop is a regular writing pattern that works for you.  I advice 1-2 hours a day.  

So how do you know when your 2nd draft is done?  

I like to go through and edit EVERYTHING in the 1st draft beginning to end.  Like I said, I don't do dialog passes.  Never have.  Probably never will.  But what I do, is constantly strive for a better piece of artwork.  Too me writing a script is like building a building.  At first the construction scene is quite hectic.  But the closer the building gets to completion, the better it looks.  Ever been on a construction site before?  Very hazardous.  Nails on the ground.  Most of the workers are surly and assholes.  And with many moving parts danger is all over the place.  Hence, hard hats!

The difference between a 2nd draft and 3rd draft is really up to the writer.  Because technically it's all a first draft when people see it for the first time.  What you need to watch out of is that you don't give your work away too early when there's things you as the author should have cleaned up.  Never expect anyone else to do your work for you.  

I call a 2nd draft complete when I've gone over my 1st draft beginning to end and cleaned it up.  What I look for in completed 2nd draft is confidence in my scenes.  Ya gotta get that right.  You can't constantly be rewriting scenes.  At some point you've convince yourself this is scene you need, in the right length.  Spidey sense, writer's style.  

Probably means something's not quite right in your story, Spiderman!

Always be open to the muse and when inspiration strikes.  Move with it and don't be afraid.  Because if you draft, there's your safety net; your earlier draft.  So much of writing is believing you can pull it off.  Works-in-progress are never pretty.  Get help if you get stuck.  Don't beat yourself up if you can't figure something out.  I waited YEARS to write "The Commune" because all I knew initially was I wanted to have a shoot-out, troops vs. flying saucers in a ghost town.  Took me YEARS to figure everything out and have the confidence to feel I could pull the story off.  Same thing with "When the Motorcycle Calls".  Biggest fear for me there was the DETAILS of the bank robbery, because my mind just doesn't work that way; I'm not a robber. 

You should feel a great sense of relief when you write your 2nd draft.  The hard parts done: you have a beginning, a middle and an end in place.  All you're doing now is improvements.  And like I said, when inspiration strikes go for it!  That's the fun part of writing.  Making discoveries.  Being proud of something you created.  Hoping that someday your hard work will be appreciated and entertain someone.  All writers are entertainers at heart.  But re-writing and editing is the grind side of the coin.  But it's not all bad for it is in that where your voice comes out.  You unique way of telling a story.  

Style points matter.  Your voice matters.  Work harder than you think you should.  I do.  I work MY ASS OFF at my writing.  If anyone tells you differently, you tell them from me that can kiss my ass!  Because I know how hard I try.  Now you do the same.  Draft away until you've created something special that you're proud of.  As a writer that should ALWAYS be your endgame: finishing a writing project that you are proud of.

When you're done drafting your story needs to be on par with this:

A 2nd draft is just part of the process of getting there.  

The Flow

Writers love to be in "the flow".  It's a time when the writing is easy and GOOD at the same time--at least YOU believe it to be while your writing.  

The crux of this post came to me about a week and half ago when I was waking up.  It was a regular workday, nothing special.  It just came to me there's a lot of parallels between writer's writing and the flow of rivers and other bodies of waters.  

Still, being in "the flow" reminds me of days in my youth (mid-20s) when I lived in Boise, Idaho; and I would go tubing down the Boise River.  Yeah, just floating down river having fun.  Need to do more of that.  Would LOVE to do a vacation over in Eastern Washington and go down the river with a group of people and drink beer.  Sounds like Heaven, huh?  That's "the flow", bro.

All rivers flow into the ocean right?  So how does the ocean figure into "the flow"?  That's a writer's collective body of work. Their bragging rights.  For yours truly that's now 21 spec. scripts, one completed, novel manuscript--and another that's dangerously close to completion.  That's my ocean; my completed body of work.  And yeah I got some shit to brag about even though I'm undiscovered as all fuck.  

The rocks in the rivers are a writer's critics.  If you're floating down a river and hit a rock.  Guess what?  It may be painful for a second.  But critics really matter?  Only if you let them.  Opinions are like assholes--everyone's got one!  I don't get to bent out of shape when the rocks come.  It's all part of the journey, bro!

Drowning is bad.  Writer-wise I would say this is when a writer can't see the forest through the trees.  I've been there before.  The trick is to hold your breath until you get topside and can breathe air again.  If you play around in water, you better know how to swim.  Better know to cope when you're in over your head.  First rule of thumb when underwater: don't panic!  Man is meant to live under water.  

Standing under the waterfall is akin to the pressures of life.  They may beat on you, but they're part of the river too.  The annoying part.  You may need the falls to generate some moola, but it's no for writers to remain too long under the falls.

I would be remiss if I didn't include aquadic life in this analogy.  So where do sharks fit it?  Well, these are writer's derailers; the things that kill you writing life.  I think self-doubt is the biggest shark that a writer will ever face.  Self-doubt can take many forms.  Usually if it's a killer shark, that means it came from somewhere else and YOU built it into the monster that it is.  The cool think is, you control what your reaction is when you encounter self-doubt.  Get out of those waters, Homes.  Self-doubt accomplishes very little.  If someone says you fail.  Fuck 'em, what do they know?  In this politically correct culture, people are always imposing their views--as law--on you, when in all honesty their views are pretty fucked up and not in line with Jesus and good, sound teaching.  Hence, don't give sharks the power they think they have.  

Water is good, but you can't say in it forever or your skin will prune.  You gotta live life, and NOT just write 24-7.  I wish I was better at life, hopefully my 50s will be my golden era.  'Cuz trust me, my 20s sucked, my 30s sucked, and 9 nears into my 40s my 40s have sucked as well.  The one saving grace: writing!  I've written some good shit, Skippy.  Stuff that no one can take away from me.  The Lord is good.  Yeah, I may swear from time-to-time; but I always come back to God.  For God is the ultimate source of all things magic.  The Giver of water so there can be a flow in the first place.  

No matter where you roam, you can ALWAYS go back to the Lord.  Or better yet, begin the journey with Him when you first get in the boat!  

I wish I was a better Christian. But one thing I don't worry about any more is being good.  Good belongs to the Holy Father.  Good belongs to Jesus.  Study the word of God long enough, and get enough sermons in you; and you SHOULD come to the conclusion that Jesus bore our load for us.  To Him be the glory.  We are sons and daughters of God.  The pressure's off.  Jesus took it off.

I pity the FOOL who relies on his own goodness.  Sure, good works are great, but it's not the end-all.  Especially not when you consider who Jesus is.  Jesus is the Son of God who suffered on behalf to fulfill the law for us.  Yeah, that's how good God is, He fulfills His own requirements for us.  

So why bring "God" up when talking about writing and various aspects of "the flow"?  I'll tell you EXACTLY why--because God should be at the center of all we do, all we think, all we strive to be.  I'm all for innovation.  I love my shower as much as the next guy.  I just believe life means more that just what heights we achieve as a society.  I believe God should be at the center of it all.  Including "the flow" . and whatever other analogies we creatives chose to create.    

P.S. I'm coming down the homestretch of editing the 2nd novel in the "Legend of Thars" series, and it feels GREAT!  Hope to have the last 17 pages edited by next Sunday, August 26th.  Then from then until I go to the PNWA writers' conference I think I'm going re-read both manuscripts using Dragon Natural Speaking and start DRAWING preliminary chapter head lining drawings.  I've already drawn a couple.  But what I've got an eye for is making my "Thars" series look like C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia".

P.S.S. I'm also going to do another video post.  Now that I've got a Webcam I can do that.  Need to get used to being in front of the camera.  I'm leaning on do a followup post to "Magic Point".  Sorry I haven't been posting more and staying "in the flow" of that.  Hopefully that will change.  'Cuz I like it here!

A Christian's take on HBO'S "Game of Thrones" Series

This may surprise you, but until VERY RECENTLY I hadn't a single episode of HBO's "Game of Thrones".  The series began in 2011, and is STILL going on today as of June 2018.  Quite the run.  But is is any good?  Well, that what this post will dive into. 

For starters, let me frame my point of view.  I am a Christian who loves the Lord.  I am fellow writer of epic fantasy, myself.  Having already completed a draft of the "Thars" series, now I'm just trying to improve it.  So what can an undiscovered, fellow epic fantasy writer learn from watching 5 seasons of R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" on HBO?  Well, for starters let me affirm to you that my series will be much better than R.R. Martin's.  So I'm an upstart.  Here's quick bullet point of what I liked, then disliked about HBO's "Game of Thrones":

What E.C. Henry liked about "Game of Thrones":

• Great mix of characters.  LOVED Peter Dinkledge's Tyrion Lannister.  But I also liked the variances.  Lots of characters to follow.  This is not a series for the simple minded. It plays a lot like FOX's "24" series--only obviously with a midieval bend.  
• Lots of plot twists.  My next door neighbor, Doug Cambell (who gave me season one and got the ball rolling) said you don't know who's going to make it.  And I found that to be true.  This series has a lot of character turnover. 

This Jennifer Love Hewitt lookalike was a welcome character.  Too bad she got killed off so early...

• The dragons are very strong.  Used sparingly, but when they're on screen, they're great.  GREAT fodder for me to consider as I toil away on Thars--which has dragons in it too!

• Solid world building.  Different cities, different cultures.  Though the plot focuses on the movers and shakers, I though most of the societies were believable.

What E.C. Henry did NOT like about "Game of Thrones":

• Too much gratuitous nudity.  Lots of shots of naked women where EVERYTHING is shown.  Also some sex scenes show too much.
• Pagan religion with NO COUNTER of the Lord's truth.  Especially unsettling was a pagan priestess who kept talking about "the Lord of light", while she influenced a king to make human sacrifices (burning people alive) and doing pagan cerimonies.  YES, I realize that this is fantasy, and part of the buy-in is an alternate reality; but this world believes in old gods and new gods, which make it a world without the one, true god.
• Too bloody.  It's not slasher all the time, but there is a lot of that in this series.  

This boy-king was real meanie/cruel person, when he got poisoned I was glad

So I watched the first 5 seasons.  Liked being able to binge watch it.  Watched season 4 and 5 off a portable blue-ray player while on vacation to Illinois and Wisconsin with my mom and dad.  But I don't plan on watching any more.  I DON'T want "Game of Thrones" influencing my work on "A Legend in Thars".  MY series will have a different feel than the one you get from R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones".  I want MY epic fantasy series to be more of a cross between C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" and J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".  Not shutting "Game of Thrones" out of the discussion, but I really don't want my series to like that.  I want a different feel.  A cleaner feel.  An E.C. Henry feel. 

All things considered I would really keep kids away from this series.  "Game of Thrones" should ONLY be view by adults.  So IF you're a Christian who considers watching this series as a family, I would stay clear of it for reasons I stated earlier.

So with all things considered, I'm ready to get back into Thars and carve out a legacy of my own.

 

 

Index Cards

Index cards.  Some screenwriters use 'em, some don't.  Me, I LOVE them!

Why?

Because I'm a proponent of ANYTHING that helps the writing and ISN'T on a 8 1/2 X 11 sheep of paper.  To date I've used at least 2 index cards on every story I've written to date.  Super colossal #1 was the one that I used the least, two; and that was because I'd already sent three years of my life in that story and didn't need index cards to know that I wanted to write.  Super colossal #1 was the easiest script I ever wrote--and probably my best too.  But I digress... because currently I carding up a new story.  Something different.  Unlike anything else I've ever written... a heist script with a unique E.C. Henry angle...  

Index cards are used to summarize scenes or capture something interesting that the writer thinks they'll use in their story. Index cards are like scaffolding.  They're used in the construction of the building (story) but then the building (story) is complete the scaffolding is taken down and seen no more.  

Stories and movies are made up of scenes.  Most times I use 1 to 3 index cards to rough out what I want to see accomplished in a scene.  But I also will record dialog in there IF I think it makes the scene memorable.  

One of the BIG benefits of using index cards is being able to see where they all fit within the three act structure.  ACT I being all setup, which ends at the ACT I breakpoint where you definitely have set up the obstacle that you protagonist has to over come.  Then in ACT II there is typically double the scenes as action takes place that brings you to your ACT II breakpoint.  Then ACT III is roughly the size of ACT I, only now you're coming down the stretch and will end answering obstacle facing your protagonist, and draw to a close all plot lines.  

I love complexity and lots of things happening to the characters in my story.  Typically I DO NOT write simple stories.  They're boring to me. Index cards help identify plot points that drive a story forward.  I really spend a lot of time in the outlining/pre-writing stage TRYING to work out story problems and missing spots.  

Index cards also serves as ISLANDS that your story is trying reach then leave on route to the next one.  Sometimes scenes move, and the order of them can be changed.  Laying out your scenes on a corkboard is a good way of seeing your story in whole, and identifying the spots that need work.  

I DO NOT believe in keeping it all in your head.  I like an easier form of brilliance.  Index cards help make my stories as stong as I'm capable of writing, in my opinion; they a help not a hindrance in the creative process.  

I also believe in color coding your index cards.  I lot of times I keep track of the love stories in red.  Blue for twists.  Green for story plants/set-ups and payoffs. Orange for theme.  And purple for master sequences, though that's normally used in the outline.  But you see my point? You can use color to spruce up a stories outline and track developments better.  Remember, storylines develop over time.  If you're missing a certain color for a prolonged period of time, maybe that's your cue to tweak the story and call in a new development along that line.  

I'm all for making writing easier.  A joy.  You wanna have so much material ready to roll when you write--so you DON'T get stumped.  No story writes itself.  Rather, a writer has to slave over it, pay dutiful attention and give it the best "justice" that he or she is capable of doing.  Index cards are a necessary component to give the writer confidence that they can do it.  Their is a path through the story.  The trail of index cards proves it! 

Hey E.C., follow this!

Yes sir!  Whatever it takes to get a draft that's coherent, logical, and good.   

And hey, index cards help me get there.  No, you don't see them in the final product: a finished screenplay or a novel; BUT they are an intrical part of the building process.  A tool that if used the right way will help a skillful builder make a better product.  And that's what it's all about:

Writing made easy!

You Are Your Characters; Challenges in Writing a Novel: Volume X

Are writers really JUST writing about themselves as they write characters?  

I have rebuffed that notion for the longest time, thinking along the lines of like serial killer novelists, thinking to myself, the writer of this can't possibly be like that in real life.  So how closely are writers attached to the characters that they create?  What are the limits?

Lemme start by staying that there most certainly are limits.  I know in my own writing I have a hard time creating any ol' character.  Like someone who is supper smart, say an award winning chemist or a brilliant mathematician.  I also have a hard time with comics and people who joke telling comes naturally too.  Now on the introspective stuff, I THINK I can hold my own.  BUT there are some definite holes in my writing game.

The crux of this post came to me as I was working on the novel and started to see character traits of MYSELF in the characters I was creative: both the good and bad guys.  As a human being I am pretty cold.  At least that's how I see myself.  I'm not a warm fuzzy kind of guy.  I'm kind of an asshole.  THAT'S a big part of my main henchmen's personality in the "Thars" series.  But I also have a much broader and deeper side, where I view history in broader context.  THAT'S how one of the tenants of the hero's on the good side.

So which is it?   Is E.C. Henry a good guy or a bad guy?  

"O my, what have I done" (typical reaction in re-reading my edits)

Well, as an author you have to be both!  At least that's the way I see it.

Writing fiction is an exploration into the unknown.  It's not known until you have it written down and it can be deciphered.  But as a writer you go into the unknown and what you bring back ends up having some of your DNA in it, the good, the bad, the ugly.  

No, I don't think every character I've written is a reflection of myself.  One of the characters I'm most proud of, which is in "Revenge of the Fat Chicks" is so unlike myself.  I'm VERY PROUD of that character, because to this day I DON'T see any of myself in her, but she's like her own complete person.  And as a writer that's one of the coolest feelings you can have: to bring something to life, and NOT have it bare a direct resemblance to yourself.

Writers deserve respect because the craft is hard.  You have to be witty, create interesting plots, and fill those plots with engaging characters.  In order to do so, the person doing this work has to be BIG.  That's right, BIG.  What I mean by that is you can't be shallow, but HAVE TO be able to see the bigger picture.  This requires a depth of internal character in the writer of fiction.  

The more I write, the less I think of myself.  I think I'm a bad writer.  I think I'm a bad person in general.  My own badness does, however, serve a purpose: it shows how much I need Jesus and the holy bible.  I don't wanna be my own god.   God is so much better than me.  Better in character.  Better in handling and despersing power.  Better in the choices that He makes.    

I think it's a miracle whenever I actually do something right--especially when it comes to writing.  To me writing is a grind.  It doesn't come easy.  It very rarely flows.  I'm just a shit writer and it shows on the pages.  No wonder it's taken me so long to write this series.  I'm shit!

Honest editing can be brutal

The funny thing is, taking shots at myself doesn't bother me.  I'd rather go for gold and come up empty, than be complacent and just except poor writing as gold, and try to sell it to other's that way.   And so I dig on...  Trying to find those nuggets of gold.  Spending hours upon hours laboring over an initial character intro to finally "get it right", or at least as right as a shit writer like me can make it.  

The Kim Kardashian style: selfie city, all commercial, lots of fluff.  ZERO substance

One thing I know for sure is that E.C. Henry is NOT a commercial novelist, he is a literary novelist.  I am NEVER going to be a fast writer/that guy who cranks book after book on a timely schedule.  Rather, I'm going to be that guy in the salt mine who puts in 12-16 hour days in search of gold.  I'm going to go through that fuckin' pan of mine until I find something of worth.  Hopefully that'll show on the pages I write.  Unfortunately, I'm a shit writer so don't expect much.

 

Personally, I hope that very little of myself shows on the pages I write.  I don't think I'm an interesting enough person to warrant being written about.  But that's part of creative process, reaching beyond yourself and going into the unknown and coming back with something new and cool.  

I don't go into character creation hoping to instill a bit of myself into the characters I create.  Rather, I go exploring hoping to create something new and exciting along the way.  I am NOT the characters I create.  I hope they're all better than me.  More interesting.  More evocative.