X-Men: First Class

To celebrate meeting my goals for the week (more on that tomorrow), the hubs and I went to see a movie last night. At first I wasn't sure if I'd like X-Men: First Class because I never read the comics or watched the TV show, but wow, was this movie good.

If you're a fan of the previous movies, you will definitely like it and if you haven't seen any of the movies and don't even know what the X-Men are, you could still appreciate the movie as a great action flick.

My only problem was January Jones. I was first introduced to her in Mad Men as the character Betty Draper. For those not familiar, this character is a housewife in the '60s. Now, I always thought January Jones played Betty very flat and unemotional - almost robotlike. But I wrote it off as the type of character that Betty Draper was. More a less a drone expected to love and obey her husband and not be suspicious of his ten billion affairs.

Fast forward to the new X-Men movie. January's delivery for the character Emma Frost was EXACTLY THE SAME even when she's supposed to be this sexy seductress. It's like she has no range at all.

Despite her terrible acting, I'd give this movie a solid A. It's made me want to go back and read the X-Men comics. Any readers have a suggestion on where to start? I found a few articles around the internet that recommended Astonishing X-Men (written by Joss Whedon!!).

So how was your weekend??

The Most Underrated Show of All Time

Okay, maybe it's not really the most underrated show, but it certainly ranks right up there. I'm talking about Arrested Development. The show lasted only three seasons (which is two longer than Freaks and Geeks...but I won't get into that now), so I'm guessing some people never got to see it.



I was first introduced to the show after two seasons had already aired. One day I was flipping through the channels and FX had a marathon of the first two seasons on. Since I was in college, and had tons of studying nothing better to do, I watched the whole thing. After seeing the first few episodes I became an addict.

So what's this show about, you ask? Well, it centers around Michael Bluth (played by the always adorable Jason Bateman) and his family. His father has been put in jail for defrauding investors, and Michael is left to run the company while his dysfunctional family tries to run it further into the ground.

Actually, dysfunctional doesn't even begin to describe them. First there's Lucille, Michael's mom, who is so used to her decadent lifestyle, she sees nothing wrong with using the company credit card for spa treatments & three martini lunches. Don't forget Michael's siblings - twin sister Lindsay who is just as out of touch as her mother, older brother Gob, a magician illusionist, and younger brother Buster, the professional student.

Then there's the kids - George Michael (Michael's son) and Maeby (Lindsay's daughter). George Michael is played by the awkwardly cute Michael Cera. Check him out because he SHINES in this role.

Some of my favorite lines

Michael Bluth: What have we always said is the most important thing?
George Michael Bluth: Breakfast
Michael Bluth: No...Family
George Michael Bluth: Oh, right. Family. I thought you meant of the things you eat.

Gob: You know, I sorta thought my contribution... could be a magic show!
Michael: Hey, that's great! That's perfect, Gob! Oh, wait, I just remembered, Dad's retiring, not turning six.

Michael: Okay, guys, um... they are going to keep Dad in prison at least until this gets all sorted out. Also, the attorney said that they’re going to have to put a halt on the company’s expense account. [The others gasp.] Interesting. I would’ve expected that after "They’re keeping Dad in jail."

These quotes don't really do the show justice. Most of the funny moments are due to the excellent comedic timing and running gags. So if you're looking for something funny and just a tad inappropriate to watch, this is your show.

Some episodes and clips are available on hulu, so check it out!

Do you have a favorite TV show that was cancelled before it's time?

Writing Progress - 10.18.10 (A Day Late)

This weekend was a little hectic so I never got to write my writing progress post on Sunday night. Then Monday was even worse, so I never got to write it yesterday. So here we are, a day late, and I'm reporting my progress.

This past week I edited one scene of my WIP. It doesn't sound like much, but I added 1,000 words to it, so it was really editing, then writing, then editing again.

This scene is sort of a "big deal" in my story, so I wanted to make sure I got it right. When I re-read what I wrote in my last draft, it seemed to syrupy sweet - in light of all the things my protag is telling her boyfriend, he should be mad! But....that's really not him. He doesn't get mad. He's cool as a cucumber, as some may say. This is why it was so hard to write the scene. After a whole week of mulling it over, I think it ended up in the right place, though.

So how did you do this week? Any big writing acheivements?

What I've Learned - Bird by Bird (2)

In Part 2 of my recap of Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird, I'm going to talk about plotting.

In the chapter on plotting, Anne touches on two points (page 54):

Plot grows out of character.

Characters should not serve as pawns for a plot you've dreamed up.

This means you can't have a plot until you know your character and you can't know your character until you spend time with them.

I do this by writing scenes that I know will never make it into the final cut. Things that happen way before the novel even takes place. Scenes that shape the character into the person they are at the beginning of the story. Once you know who they are, the plot will fall into place.

Let's take an example:

Bobby is sixteen years old. He doesn't fight with his younger sister and loves both his parents. There's no abuse - physical or mental - in his family. In fact, his parents have done nothing but support him and any dream he's had his who life. He gets good grades and is college bound.

So after you've spent all this time painting Bobby's picture, you have him run away. This doesn't make much sense, and the reader won't be able to find the connection. From the description I've given you, Bobby would never run away.

How about we tweak the facts a bit, because we've spent weeks with Bobby and now we know most of his secrets.

Bobby never really wanted to go to college and be a doctor. He just didn't have enough self esteem to tell his parents after all they did for him. On top of that, he's cheated on most of the tests he's taken in High School.

Now, when Bobby runs away, it makes a little more sense. The pressure of pleasing his parents builds and builds until he can't take it anymore, then BAM!, he's gone.

If you get to know your characters, they'll tell you exactly what they want to do. And remember, if you try bossing them around, they'll eventually cross you, so be careful!

How do you get to know your characters? Do you let them run wild, even if it changes your original concept?

Writing Compelling Characters

In order to write a good story, you have to have good characters. No, I'm not talking about characters that are inherently good. In fact, I'm talking about the opposite.

Writing a compelling character means writing a character with flaws, someone that is human. No one is perfect, no one has all the right answers. And most importantly, we all have bad hair days.

When I'm first developing a character, I try to ask myself the following questions:

• What is this character's quirks?
  
• Do the have a best friend?
  
• Do they have a hobby?
  
  And most importantly....
  
• If I throw this character off a cliff in the middle of the book, would any of my readers care?
  

The last one always holds the most weight for me. If no one cares, then the character probably isn't written very well. Even if this character were the scum of the Earth, someone would care that I killed him off like that.

Of course, the questions above are just the tip of the iceberg. To write a character well, you need to know them inside and out. For that, I use a spreadsheet that outlines everything about each person that appears, no matter how minor of a character they are. After all, each character is the main character of their own story, even if that's not the story I'm telling. Things that happen "off camera" have an effect on how the character acts in my story.

When you wrap all these things together, I think you end up with a well thought out character that speaks to the audience. When you don't think about what makes your character tick, you end up falling flat.

How about you? What do you do that makes your characters 'pop'?

Check out my character study posts to get a better idea of what makes a compelling character.

This post is part of Elana Johnson's blogging experiment. Check out what everyone else had to say about compelling characters by clicking here.