Pre-Production

I have a little hobby, it's called pre-production. Actually I play video games...or played. I haven't had much time since I dedicated myself to writing. But I still keep up with video game ideas and news. And I watched a great video about pre-production in the video game world. It was interesting to me because I've seen similar problems in many areas. The main question is this. How much time do you spend planning and how much time do you spend working?

In writing I've heard others call it world building, planning, concept work, etc. Pre-production is actually a bit of a misnomer. Pre-production implies that there is production planning going on, but in most cases it is simply rapturous play time with a beautiful idea.

And I've noticed that this happens with any type of endeavor. Even my sons (Both under 10) have the hang of it. "Hey, let's make a fort out back dad!" "Hey, I should go pan for gold then we'll be rich."

What is it about our ideas that keeps us from acting on them? This stage of work is full of sharing. I want to share this idea with someone who can actually bring it to fruition but still give me the credit.

One of the most useless questions I hear all the time from people who get the chance to talk to any creator is this. "Where did you get your idea?"

The truth is that ideas are easy. Good ideas come along all the time. The hard part is taking that idea and spinning it into gold. That's the hard part of any project, the work. If you are a writer I suggest practicing projects. Find something small and finish it. You will find that skill is one of the most useful you can develop. Hone your craft, look for ideas, and practice bringing something to life.

DONE!

I finished my rough draft for book 1 a few weeks back. I think I may have underestimated how long revision would take...or I might be lazy. Regardless of all those things, one thing is true. I wanted to start submitting my manuscript as soon as I finished typing the last words.

I don't think this is an uncommon feeling. I finished. The symbol that represented my story was complete. I sat in the same room as a copy of my narrative completely printed out and ready to entice readers. It enticed me.

"I'm finished." It said.

"No you're not." I said. "You need revision."

"I am whole." It said. "You have created me."

It was right. It gave me a heady and almost omnipotent feeling just thinking about it. I, the creator...I wanted to believe, I did believe, but deep in my heart I knew the truth.

"But I have not perfected you."

My manuscript accepted my words and waited. But not before I had started sending out query letters. That may have been a poor choice. Perhaps I should have waited until I finished revisions. I sent out two queries and stopped. I have only conjecture at this time, but one day I will look back and know the truth. Submit as soon as possible, or submit when finished. I have a feeling that the moment lay somewhere in between.

Keep working. Keep writing. I imagine that I will begin submitting again after my second draft.

Good luck to you all.

Reboot

So I've been looking at some talk about reboots in movies. At one point in time I heard them called remakes. I guess to be fair reboots come for movies with sequels and remakes are often standalone films. The question on the tip of most tongues (proverbial or no) is this, "Is it any good?" There's a second question that often accompanies or at least comes through implication (such a dirty sounding word). "Is it any good compared to the original?"

I should pause here to say that the trend also comes in video games, music, and other media as well...Ah...done pausing.

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I think that it's a pretty natural extension to the form. Fixing a story in a time capsule like medium (such as a film) is a relatively new invention. Once upon a time the only way to hear, read, or see the hot new story was by attending a live performance. How many of us have seen the Mona Lisa in person? But we know exactly what it looks like because we've seen a hundred pictures. I've seen the framed canvas at the Louvre in Paris. Sure it was nice to see it in person, but it was exactly the same as seeing it in my AP Art History book.

You could argue that writing or movable type preserved stories as well, but even those stories weren't universally available because until relatively recently literacy wasn't all that important to most people.

Reboots and remakes happened every day. If we like a story it becomes part of us. We want to see that story again. We did it with spoofs. We enjoy the basic ideas of a story and then we can make jokes about it. Remakes are inevitable. Sometimes they're great, sometimes they're great disappointments. We can ride the nostalgia, or complain that the artists involved got it all wrong. We'll all love the stories we've come to love, and we'll love them again and again until something new comes along.

Going back to Greece (I guess I was never there), everyone was writing plays about the tragedy of Oedipus we just kept the one they all liked best. Old Grog got pushed aside because Gerome was a better story teller. We're attached to the stories and the ideas, not necessarily the presentation. We may feel an attachment to the first time we saw it, but we'll keep watching as the same story is presented in a format that the current audience relates to better.

The only real question nowadays is, "Who get's the money?"