Here is something weird my brain does: I love fictional genius characters, especially ones whose sense of self-worth is tied up in their intelligence and whose story arc is partially about the messy process of untangling the two. I love Charlotte Holmes, Harrowhark Nonagesimus*, Gregory House, and all the rest.…
Dexter did it. So did Mulder. And House. Sherlock Holmes did it in both his shows, sometimes more than once. It almost makes you think there should be a support group: “Hi, my name is Sherlock, and…” (“Go on, Sherlock.”) “… I get out of tough situations by faking my…
When I was thirteen, there was a group of people on the Internet who were completely, objectively incorrect.
(Even you, Elementary. Though I admit your circumstances are slightly different. BUT I WILL *NOT* SPOIL THEM, SO READ ON WITHOUT FEAR!) I love updates of Sherlock Holmes, but I have not yet encountered a single version of Irene Adler who does not make me want to punch the character in…
(But first… happy birthday, Grace! Yaaaaaay!) Almost every how-to writing book you can find advises would-be writers to read extensively. This is sound advice. Reading a lot of what you want to write helps you to understand it viscerally the same way doing lots of math problems is a different…
… but mostly, yeah, they still are. Also, I need to define “jerkwad,” because by the rules of storytelling, pretty much every fictional character in whom I have an interest is a jerkwad to someone. There’s an antagonist, and no matter how good our hero or heroine, sometimes sh*t gets…
But first: apparently, I have an Internet kindred spirit on Cracked! OK, so what do I mean by a “story about storytelling”? There are lots of stories in which characters tell stories to one another, from the trivial type like, “Let me fill you in on the entire plot up…
When the season finale of House (or Dexter, or The X Files, or whatever single TV show I’m into) airs, I promise myself: next season, I will not fall for the same old trap. I will not seek out spoilers from Wikipedia or fanboards. I will not skim through fanfiction.net…
(Yes, I know this is long. But I’m out of the country come Monday, so this makes up for no blog next week.) I love surprise endings. I enjoy reading them — nothing makes me feel more satisfied with the ending of a book or movie than a well executed…
(PRE-POST NOTE: There are lots more important things to blog about this week than what I prepared for today. But it takes me a long time to think about things until I’m satisfied with my conclusions and even longer to write them up in a way that makes sense to…