Journalism and media are two very different things. You think? When it comes between an instance like celebrity culture and journalists on the Tibetan-Chinese border it is undoubted. The line can be bothersomely blurred... This writer thinks perchance the journalists discover the information, and the media belches it out.
The Reader may note that was a fairly extraordinary sentence, and definitely exhibits the tone of the forthcoming piece. In other words, this'll be a fairly vituperative article. Bear with me, my figurative blogger's pen is rusty from disuse. Enjoy.
Shakespeare is theater. Previously lowbrow, crude, and informal theater to be sure, but now it has morphed into an art form: which at least is better than Ms. Jennifer Aniston, and the full cadre of celebrities. Media, while it endeavors to imitate such, is not an art.
Take for example the recent happenings in Eurasia. It has been transgr essing for upwards of a month-and-two-weeks, with every small happenstance magnified and declaimed throughout. A lowly and uninformed personage I may be, but however nefarious President Putin is or is not (come on, he at least is a level II megalomaniac) a crisis need not crucially be averted when a news article on the aforementioned is side-by-side with one on Taylor Swift's attire. I entirely agree that it is somewhat discordant, yet honestly, I see little importance in superficial publicizing.
...
Quite honestly, originality is sorely lacking. Maybe discuss the situation of the fight against malaria in third-world countries? Poor pay in Chinese factories? Political suppression in Myanmar?
Just...frigging...shut up...about...Taylor Swift's clothes.
Please.
I come to the meat of the matter, and to my opinionated approximation of things media sorely exaggerates in its pertinent stages, one article deriving from another, expounding on falliance and thriving on drama; a crisis following another in quick and short-lived succession.
Not to say journalism in and of itself is a vice. In fact it's a virtue. Now if only the popular distribution of disclosures were less aggrandized... At least we have right to report on most, I admit.
But perhaps we exaggerate an increment too much. I'll silence on the news commentary, thanks.
Appreciation for reading my digression on media,
-Anacostia.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Desisting from consistent opinionation, I offer you a review: SHADOWFELL by Juliet Marillier.
To postpone the aforewritten article in this "blog" was no easy task, but in order to illuminate my thoughts on the exemplary work, of whose name carries both delineation of a sunless area and protuberances of earth particularly found in mid-England, Missouri, central China, Mongolia, and elsewise...Oh, come on, codswallop! I'll drop the turgidity, if only to respect my feelings on this book yesterday.
Feelings on book while reading: Asdfghjkl, this book is amazeballs to the sky, but oh my gersh Neryn, you are so naïve!
Feelings on book while a little more than half-way through: Aii! *kindly picture your potential mental image of me, quite honored to have a potential mental image incidentally, holding the book an arm's-length away with a stricken expression*
Feelings on book in the eponymous Shadowfell: *curled up with eyes moving like lightning*.
Feelings on book... At the denouément (Or whatever counts for it in this book): *hugs book to chest*.
Juliet Marillier is an author who wrote many books, among them which I have read Wildwood Dancing, and its premier companion Cybele's Secret. Thence I have gleaned her writing style to be heavy on character development, possibly more emotionally raw than other authors (many of whom I might name but I did say: "Rants of Opinionation" not "Calumny and vituperation"*), great at scenic detail, and fantastical situations abounding.
Three guesses.
1. All appear.
2. All appear with striking brilliance.
3. All appear with brilliance that yesterday demonstrated my ability to fangirl at length, and become overly wrapped up in a work of fiction†.
Ahem. All of the above. Rather then embark on a lengthy panegyric, why don't I explain what makes this book so utterly admirable?
Fifteen years before the book is set, a tyrant named Keldec takes power and bans all magic: both expunging particular talent in arts and crafts for fear of it being "canny" (for that is magic's name in this), and regularly destroying villages and settlements presumably to put the fear of the king in the citizens.N.B. A girl born in the year of King Keldec's coup, and running from the wrath of his "Enforcers" is a girl named Neryn (surname unspoken-of). Fleeing a village shortly before it is burned (See, she has all the bad luck. Her grandmother's mind was destroyed by Keldec's "mind-menders", her brother was killed in the destruction of their village, her mother died when she was four, and her father dies in the village's immolation.) with the help of an individual called Flint (Don't blame me, I didn't name those characters.) Naturally, she does not trust aforementioned individual and sets out solo to find Shadowfell, the legendary abode of those resistant to the king's rule.
If you're any connoisseur of the Y/A genre it should be a bit predictable as to the events of the book. If you're not, you aren't missing much, but the fun of guessing.
To be frank, I originally thought very little of this series. In the wake of our family watching Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings cinematic adaptations I thought this filled with terrible plagiarisms, and set it down after reading... five pages. Since then I have repeatedly critiqued it (with, mind you, little idea of its actual quality) but when I sighted it at the library, with the sequel I had to check it out again.
And, I loved it. Due to a variety of rare factors in Young Adult fiction known as good writing, fine characterization (and character-development, furthermore. This doesn't just go into flawed characters... flawed characters complete with backstory to demonstrate both their flaws and their merits still without weighing down the storyline, current actions demonstrating said flaws, and merits, as well as plenty of conflict just so those poor characters don't get a break. Maybe in the sequel☺?As a nice contrast I suspect these parenthetical statements are indubitably weighing down the review.)
Ah yes: Fine characterization, scenes to variously chill, hearten, or thrill the reader without burdening them with overly turgid phrasing, a - granted it is a cliché - rather, hm, trite storyline, and even at the end of it you want more to the story. Lucky Raven Flight is the present book of honor on my shelf, mm?
Sincerely,
Anacostia Mirabow-Marignac.
*As many of them I probably unfairly dislike. Probably. Moreover, calumny is a fantastic word (meaning unfair or unjust criticism), which is potentially the root of my use.
†Hitherto unseen since my reading of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. The review is far too embarrassing to post on this blog, but I shall disclose my reading of it involved shrieking about the annoying characters, then bawling five minutes later. Uncontrollably. With great emotion.
♪If you're wondering about aforesaid event, you might search in the vicinity of the synopsis. I know. It's dreadfully helpful.
N.B. Of course, he could not have considered making people hate the magic rather than him. To cite Machiavelli, a monarch should be loved in peacetime, and feared in strife, but never, never to the point of hatred... Unlike Keldec. Oh, very much unlike Keldec.
Feelings on book while reading: Asdfghjkl, this book is amazeballs to the sky, but oh my gersh Neryn, you are so naïve!
Feelings on book while a little more than half-way through: Aii! *kindly picture your potential mental image of me, quite honored to have a potential mental image incidentally, holding the book an arm's-length away with a stricken expression*
Feelings on book in the eponymous Shadowfell: *curled up with eyes moving like lightning*.
Feelings on book... At the denouément (Or whatever counts for it in this book): *hugs book to chest*.
Juliet Marillier is an author who wrote many books, among them which I have read Wildwood Dancing, and its premier companion Cybele's Secret. Thence I have gleaned her writing style to be heavy on character development, possibly more emotionally raw than other authors (many of whom I might name but I did say: "Rants of Opinionation" not "Calumny and vituperation"*), great at scenic detail, and fantastical situations abounding.
Three guesses.
1. All appear.
2. All appear with striking brilliance.
3. All appear with brilliance that yesterday demonstrated my ability to fangirl at length, and become overly wrapped up in a work of fiction†.
Ahem. All of the above. Rather then embark on a lengthy panegyric, why don't I explain what makes this book so utterly admirable?
Fifteen years before the book is set, a tyrant named Keldec takes power and bans all magic: both expunging particular talent in arts and crafts for fear of it being "canny" (for that is magic's name in this), and regularly destroying villages and settlements presumably to put the fear of the king in the citizens.N.B. A girl born in the year of King Keldec's coup, and running from the wrath of his "Enforcers" is a girl named Neryn (surname unspoken-of). Fleeing a village shortly before it is burned (See, she has all the bad luck. Her grandmother's mind was destroyed by Keldec's "mind-menders", her brother was killed in the destruction of their village, her mother died when she was four, and her father dies in the village's immolation.) with the help of an individual called Flint (Don't blame me, I didn't name those characters.) Naturally, she does not trust aforementioned individual and sets out solo to find Shadowfell, the legendary abode of those resistant to the king's rule.
If you're any connoisseur of the Y/A genre it should be a bit predictable as to the events of the book. If you're not, you aren't missing much, but the fun of guessing.
To be frank, I originally thought very little of this series. In the wake of our family watching Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings cinematic adaptations I thought this filled with terrible plagiarisms, and set it down after reading... five pages. Since then I have repeatedly critiqued it (with, mind you, little idea of its actual quality) but when I sighted it at the library, with the sequel I had to check it out again.
And, I loved it. Due to a variety of rare factors in Young Adult fiction known as good writing, fine characterization (and character-development, furthermore. This doesn't just go into flawed characters... flawed characters complete with backstory to demonstrate both their flaws and their merits still without weighing down the storyline, current actions demonstrating said flaws, and merits, as well as plenty of conflict just so those poor characters don't get a break. Maybe in the sequel☺?As a nice contrast I suspect these parenthetical statements are indubitably weighing down the review.)
Ah yes: Fine characterization, scenes to variously chill, hearten, or thrill the reader without burdening them with overly turgid phrasing, a - granted it is a cliché - rather, hm, trite storyline, and even at the end of it you want more to the story. Lucky Raven Flight is the present book of honor on my shelf, mm?
Then again, I had my prejudices against the characters, particularly Neryn. Concurred that she was a careful, defensive, weary, individual. Nevertheless, her trust of Flint grew rather too quickly. *nods*. Very quickly. And of course as anyone who has read to the middle of the novel understands, that trust is shattered like..... like.....a thousand tiny similes dashed upon a mirror, creating both a heck of a mess, a terrible comparison, and the cleaner wondering how a literary device can break a mirror♪.
Really, if they're all as terrible as that one I cannot admit to surprise.
Let's face it: It's an astounding book and you had better go out to your nearest bookstore to buy it. Or, rather not. In fact it is entirely your own choice to read it-let alone like it! Although I would recommend Cybele's Secret, and Wildwood Dancing, her two other Y/As. In very fact, my thanks for reading this review.
Anacostia Mirabow-Marignac.
*As many of them I probably unfairly dislike. Probably. Moreover, calumny is a fantastic word (meaning unfair or unjust criticism), which is potentially the root of my use.
†Hitherto unseen since my reading of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. The review is far too embarrassing to post on this blog, but I shall disclose my reading of it involved shrieking about the annoying characters, then bawling five minutes later. Uncontrollably. With great emotion.
♪If you're wondering about aforesaid event, you might search in the vicinity of the synopsis. I know. It's dreadfully helpful.
N.B. Of course, he could not have considered making people hate the magic rather than him. To cite Machiavelli, a monarch should be loved in peacetime, and feared in strife, but never, never to the point of hatred... Unlike Keldec. Oh, very much unlike Keldec.
Several witticisms, one antique scribbler, an eternally superannuated vocabulary, and the complete works, of Anacostia Mirabow-Marignac's writing advice.
Doubtlessly my trademark lyricism and unending insight must cast it into question whether, indeed, the author of this so-called "blog" happens to be an author. I am. Being magnanimous as all-get-out, you may expect me to share sagacious pearls of wisdom, and perhaps a little less hyperbole than has hitherto been exhibited. How little you know me, Dear Reader, if you expect the latter to occur.
Fortunately, my munificence has no bounds. Or rather, I might counter the stemming tide of tips which I strongly disagree with, rather than simply whinging ineffectually.
(This is what is termed: "Stream of consciousness" or in other words endless blather. The egomania is merely a side-effect of typing quite rapidly.)
Before I embark on my as-promised tips for writing, I've decided to list a sample of my writing projects as follows. Some have been swirling in the stormy depths of my head for some time (think seven years), some are nascent arrivals to my portfolio of stories.
•The Queen of Tyreusa. The eldest of my projects, it dates from seven years ago when, admittedly, I imagined scenes from it while trying to go to sleep. I neglected to think up any motivation, character building, description, or successive plots... In this installment the Queen of Tyreusa, Corinna, is the sovereign of the nation Tyreusa, having been in that capacity for eight years, and much has been placed on her adolescent shoulders. Including, but not limited to, raiders in the north, declarations of war from neighboring states, and nefarious advisers. When a plan from one state goes awry, and peace talks are called before it is too late, she recognizes one in the cadre of politicians sent. Who happens to be the king of that country, Hytermaire. Also, her former, vanished friend.
•Wutherwell story. Set in, fine, I confess, what used to be my concept of A Tale of Two Cities (a parallel world with carriage overpasses, and flying somethings. No stonings! One city could be located in the parallel world, the other could be on Earth. Perfectly logical. Needless to say, I dissuaded myself of that notion) this stars a girl named Rhaedlwyn Dartmoor: nineteen years old, cloistered and introverted in a cathedral town called...yes...yes...Wutherwell! Thereafter, her best friend deserts from the air force (named the Air Legions) and with a fair dose of emotional altercation, she ends up in the Air Legions herself. Sequel is set on the Orient Express, several months afterward. Originally a National Novel Writing Month (i.e. NaNoWriMo) story.
•Robin Hood re-telling. A few scattered portions and an unclear plot are all there is of this story characterized by elements perhaps borrowed from "Robin of Sherwood" and cringe-inducingly similar to the BBC Robin Hood of 2010. Sans all magic and magical elements, mind. Note for the latter, that was entirely incidental, as my knowledge of that originates in pop culture references from the Internet and BBC previews.
•Cyberpunk. Inspired when I was perusing a tome of theoretical physics (I believe it was Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku if you must know) and noted they explained if light was refracted via solar panels consistently over the Martian atmosphere, it would warm, melt the polar caps, and thus make it habitable in a while. Well, this is set after that while, in the dusty plains of Mars in a town called New Locktown. Trust me, all I'm missing is a plot for little miss Leigh Aubrey.
Synopsis, The Queen of Tyreusa, and names; everything relating to stories named is copyright of Anacostia Mirabow-Marignac. For reproduction or copy rights, contact her on Google+. I might not bite your head off.
Ah, yes. Notes, tips, and advice:
►Do nothing to your primary or auxiliary characters without the audience liking them first. And you, too, you're the book's primary audience.
►Do not enact what the audience wants, or what would perfect the character's lives, do instead what adds drama. Drama--DRAMA‼
►Basically that means write for yourself, not for an audience. Do add what makes drama, though.
►Don't be afraid of saccharine writing. If it is too emesis-inductive then you can change it, but often the best drama results from grandness, elegance, or sweetness.
►Stress not about characters. Write them, and characterization will come at last.
►Use touching moments with care.
►If writing a romantic or sentimental scene or work, make sure the characters involved are not defined solely by the romance. They shouldn't be handsome, kind, gallant, lovable, and complex just in time for the protagonist to meet them...they shouldn't be declaring their love and undying affection every three pages...they shouldn't always interact romantically, it needs to be subtle too, they need to be characters as well as love-interests.
►"Suddenly" is a delicate term. Abrupt may fit into some instances..."as abruptly they hit someone" but the "suddenly" adverb others, "suddenly their feet flew out from under them." Consider whether the abruptness or suddenness is apparent from the phrasing. The reader is viewing it as a sudden action, not always does it need to be named.
►You've gotta love writing to write. That is all.
Hopefully, Reader, the gems of wisdom gained are sufficient and prove emolument for the perusing of this article. Really, thanks for reading; thanks for writing. I hope that helps, and remember, the manner which you write and standard by which you write are your decisions‼
Yes, all writers do hope the elves will come in the night and finish their stories, all do just write, and they all paint their voices. Neil Gaiman, and Voltaire for ze quotes. The pen is also mightier than the sword; always, and you must write the story that wants to be written (Madeleine L'Engle). Castles in the air never exist in real life, but once you pick up the quill, the pen, the pencil...daydreamings are the limit.
-Anacostia.
Fortunately, my munificence has no bounds. Or rather, I might counter the stemming tide of tips which I strongly disagree with, rather than simply whinging ineffectually.
(This is what is termed: "Stream of consciousness" or in other words endless blather. The egomania is merely a side-effect of typing quite rapidly.)
Before I embark on my as-promised tips for writing, I've decided to list a sample of my writing projects as follows. Some have been swirling in the stormy depths of my head for some time (think seven years), some are nascent arrivals to my portfolio of stories.
•The Queen of Tyreusa. The eldest of my projects, it dates from seven years ago when, admittedly, I imagined scenes from it while trying to go to sleep. I neglected to think up any motivation, character building, description, or successive plots... In this installment the Queen of Tyreusa, Corinna, is the sovereign of the nation Tyreusa, having been in that capacity for eight years, and much has been placed on her adolescent shoulders. Including, but not limited to, raiders in the north, declarations of war from neighboring states, and nefarious advisers. When a plan from one state goes awry, and peace talks are called before it is too late, she recognizes one in the cadre of politicians sent. Who happens to be the king of that country, Hytermaire. Also, her former, vanished friend.
•Wutherwell story. Set in, fine, I confess, what used to be my concept of A Tale of Two Cities (a parallel world with carriage overpasses, and flying somethings. No stonings! One city could be located in the parallel world, the other could be on Earth. Perfectly logical. Needless to say, I dissuaded myself of that notion) this stars a girl named Rhaedlwyn Dartmoor: nineteen years old, cloistered and introverted in a cathedral town called...yes...yes...Wutherwell! Thereafter, her best friend deserts from the air force (named the Air Legions) and with a fair dose of emotional altercation, she ends up in the Air Legions herself. Sequel is set on the Orient Express, several months afterward. Originally a National Novel Writing Month (i.e. NaNoWriMo) story.
•Robin Hood re-telling. A few scattered portions and an unclear plot are all there is of this story characterized by elements perhaps borrowed from "Robin of Sherwood" and cringe-inducingly similar to the BBC Robin Hood of 2010. Sans all magic and magical elements, mind. Note for the latter, that was entirely incidental, as my knowledge of that originates in pop culture references from the Internet and BBC previews.
•Cyberpunk. Inspired when I was perusing a tome of theoretical physics (I believe it was Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku if you must know) and noted they explained if light was refracted via solar panels consistently over the Martian atmosphere, it would warm, melt the polar caps, and thus make it habitable in a while. Well, this is set after that while, in the dusty plains of Mars in a town called New Locktown. Trust me, all I'm missing is a plot for little miss Leigh Aubrey.
Synopsis, The Queen of Tyreusa, and names; everything relating to stories named is copyright of Anacostia Mirabow-Marignac. For reproduction or copy rights, contact her on Google+. I might not bite your head off.
Ah, yes. Notes, tips, and advice:
►Do nothing to your primary or auxiliary characters without the audience liking them first. And you, too, you're the book's primary audience.
►Do not enact what the audience wants, or what would perfect the character's lives, do instead what adds drama. Drama--DRAMA‼
►Basically that means write for yourself, not for an audience. Do add what makes drama, though.
►Don't be afraid of saccharine writing. If it is too emesis-inductive then you can change it, but often the best drama results from grandness, elegance, or sweetness.
►Stress not about characters. Write them, and characterization will come at last.
►Use touching moments with care.
►If writing a romantic or sentimental scene or work, make sure the characters involved are not defined solely by the romance. They shouldn't be handsome, kind, gallant, lovable, and complex just in time for the protagonist to meet them...they shouldn't be declaring their love and undying affection every three pages...they shouldn't always interact romantically, it needs to be subtle too, they need to be characters as well as love-interests.
►"Suddenly" is a delicate term. Abrupt may fit into some instances..."as abruptly they hit someone" but the "suddenly" adverb others, "suddenly their feet flew out from under them." Consider whether the abruptness or suddenness is apparent from the phrasing. The reader is viewing it as a sudden action, not always does it need to be named.
►You've gotta love writing to write. That is all.
Hopefully, Reader, the gems of wisdom gained are sufficient and prove emolument for the perusing of this article. Really, thanks for reading; thanks for writing. I hope that helps, and remember, the manner which you write and standard by which you write are your decisions‼
 |
The Essence of Writing.
|
Yes, all writers do hope the elves will come in the night and finish their stories, all do just write, and they all paint their voices. Neil Gaiman, and Voltaire for ze quotes. The pen is also mightier than the sword; always, and you must write the story that wants to be written (Madeleine L'Engle). Castles in the air never exist in real life, but once you pick up the quill, the pen, the pencil...daydreamings are the limit.
-Anacostia.
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