Writing

The Hollow Crown RANKINGS

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I know what you’re thinking – “What is The Hollow Crown?”

Well, The Hollow Crown is a BBC production of 8 Shakespeare plays condensed into 7 mini movies, Richard II, Henry IV part 1 & 2, Henry V, Henry VI part 1 & 2 & 3 (condensed into 2 eps) and Richard III. It stars British thespian superstars such as Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch to name just a few. You can find it on Amazon if you’re interested.

First let me just say I LOVED IT!!!

But there was definitely a best and a worst episode.

The best was HANDS DOWN Richard III starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Benedict Cumberbatch is harrowing, hilarious, and horse-less as Richard III. I’d only ever seen Monty Python’s reference of Richard III previously so trust me – those were some big shoes to fill.

At a very close 2nd we have Henry V starring Tom Hiddleston.

Tom Hiddleston is heroic, handsome, and “Harry” as Henry V. If you didn’t have a crush on Tom Hiddleston before then this one will definitely do you in.

Third is Richard II starring Ben Whishaw.

Ben Whishaw genuinely blew me away with his performance of Richard II. I couldn’t look away whenever he was on the screen. Three H’s for his performance would be honest, helpless and hallowed.

4th it’s the 2 parts of Henry IV starring Jeremy Irons.

The reason these two are ranked lower for me is because there was a lot of time spent on pub characters that honestly just didn’t tickle my fancy. It still had Hiddleston though as Prince Hal and he had a good fight scene at the end of the 2nd part, along with good dialogue scenes with Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons as Henry IV was hobbled, and two other H words but not happy.

5th and last is the 2 parts of Henry VI.

This was the one that took the most liberties with the text and you could really tell. They made Joan of Arc out to be an actual witch and had it that the queen was having an affair with one of the lords (I forget his name). It did have Francis from Poldark, Kyle Soller (whom I just found out is American and not British!) who was very good and Cumberbatch made his appearance as Richard III in this one. The last 20 minutes – oooo chilling! The three H’s for this one would be How, wHo, and wHat?

All in all though I give the series 5 stars! Definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan of Shakespeare or battles or kings or theatre or Tom Hiddleston or Benedict Cumberbatch.

Have you seen it? Will you watch it after this? What’s your favorite Shakespeare quote? Let me know! 😀

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Book Recommendation: Jane Eyre

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Do you like drama?

Do you like rain?

Do you like mysterious strangers that just randomly appear and disappear on the road only to later end up being the master of the house at which you were just recently employed as a governess and now you find yourself falling for him even though he probably has a crazy wife in the attic?

Then Jane Eyre is the book for you!!!

Seriously, this is one of my favorite books! 🙂

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte follows the life of a young orphan girl in victorian times that deals with all of the hits – dead parents, horrible aunts, terrible teachers, bad orphanages, the consumption and so on and so on. Despite all of this she grows into a practical, pretty smart, plain young lady who has the good fortune of being employed as a governess at Thornfield Hall.

Jane had no idea that her brief tenure there would be the starting point of the rest of her life. And she certainly had not been prepared to meet her future husband when she’d sent in her application. But, fate has a funny way of giving us exactly what’s good for us – even if it’s a little dark, broody and damaged at first.

The only thing standing between Jane and happiness (in her mind) is her social status.

She had no idea about the reeeeal obstacle!

I’ve been trying to think of a unique ranking system. You know, like 10 out of 10 or 5 stars or S Tier or something like that but I want it to be fun and different. Maybe it’ll be some kind of pudding scale?… But anyways, point is on any scale this book sits at the top!!

Have you read it? And if not, why not? … 😉 Are you going to read it?

Whatever your answer let me know your thoughts on Jane Eyre in the comments! 😀 That way we can squeal and rant about it together!!

Happy Friday! ❤

BTW, yes there is a manga version of Jane Eyre!

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Music Recommendations: Hustling!

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The theme of music this week is Hustling! It’s music that gets me pumped to write, workout and clean. 🙂

So, for a story prompt let’s have the opening line be:

“The scent of bleach wasn’t the only thing burning my nostrils.”

What do you guys think?

Doesn’t it get you stoked and creative?

No, not yet? Well maybe these next 5 songs will change your mind!

#1: Burnin in the Third Degree by the Tryanglz

#2: I’m Free by Kenny Loggins (from the Footloose soundtrack)

#3: Oh My Angel by CHAI (from Angel’s Last Mission ost)

#4: I’m So Excited by The Pointer Sisters

#5: Crosses by Jose Gonzalez (sliver of ice [doctor who remix] by katrindepp)

What do ya think???

If y’all’s have any song suggestions for me, please let me know in a comment! 😀

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Disney & the Shakespearean Formula

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If I were to say that “Disney is just Shakespeare!” you’d be like, “I know, Lion King, duh.”

But I’m not just talking about The Lion King here.

I’m talking about the entirety of Disney, I’m talking about what makes a Disney film a Disney film, you know the thing that whenever there’s a major cliche moment people are like “What is this, a Disney film?”

That, my friends, is the Shakespearean Formula that I’m talking about, and today we’re going to talk about The Tempest.

In the Tempest we have the magical lead Prospero (a banished for-all-intents-and-purposes ‘good guy’, and the father of the female lead Miranda). Prospero makes me think of Merlin from Sword in the Stone or Mushu from Mulan (idk maybe you have a better disney comparison that I just can’t think of) – he is the main character, but in the Disney movie version it would ‘technically’ be Miranda that was the main character. Regardless, Prospero is the magical lead that was banished, that has a score to settle, and that is driving the plot.

The female lead Miranda (a beautiful innocent young maiden who’s never even seen a man before, aside from her father and a gargoyle like creature). Reminds me of Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Belle, Cinderella and basically every Disney princess out there. She’s lovely, innocent and kind but also isolated away from everyone and everything until she meets Ferdinand.

The male lead Ferdinand (the handsome, kind, but not-too-deep-and-still-has-a-lot-to-learn prince). He reminds me of every classic Disney prince.

(We all agree that Prince Phillip is the best Disney prince, right? No need to even discuss!)

The villains and bewitched-by-the villains in Alonso (the king and father of Ferdinand and the bewitched one) Antonio (the evil brother of Prospero who’s just backstabbing people left and right) and Sebastian (the brother of Alonso who’s so ready to backstab). I mean – think of any Disney villain and boom these guys are it.

Then, we have the comical but diabolical but in-the-end-harmless characters in Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano (the gargoyle-like servant of the magical lead, and two drunks from the royal shipwreck). This trio provides much needed comic relief with a dash of danger – very similar to your eels from The Little Mermaid, or the hyenas from The Lion King, or Lucifer the cat and the evil stepsisters from Cinderella – all groups that were scary sure, but more funny then anything else and in the end none of their plans came to fruition.

And last, but not least, we have the literal fairy godmother character in Ariel (Prospero’s spirit helper that does Prospero’s bidding). He’s your Genie from Aladdin, your Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, your Grandmother Willow from Pocahontas, and so on and so on. Without him, the magic doesn’t get done, a lot of the comedy is lost, and the ‘hero’ of the story remains at the bottom.

It’s not just the characters though. It’s the structure too. It’s everything really, but I’m blanking on terms here.

To break it down, in The Tempest there’s a big event that happens (the storm), just like a lot of Disney movies, (Tarzan, Frozen, Pocahontas are just a few that start out with a big storm) and then after the wreck the Prince finds and falls in love with the Princess, the bad guys plot and scheme to get rid of their leaders and in the end the magical wizard saves the day and there’s a wedding.

The big scene that I noticed that made me go “Oh c’mon!” is there’s literally a ‘date scene’ for Miranda and Ferdinand where, after they’ve already gotten engaged after like 3 hours, they watch a musical performance put on by these magical creatures (just like Kiss the Girl, Can you feel the love tonight?, So this is Love, that one from Tangled with the lanterns on the water!) and they fall even more in love.

Anyway – I’m getting a little lost here – my point is, I think that that’s why Disney movies are so famous. Walt Disney copied the formula of one of the most famous playwrights of all time, William Shakespeare.

Wait a minute! Walt – William – is there a little similarity there? 😉 Oh, I think there is! (*cough* John Candy reference *cough*)

TTFN! (Ta Ta For Now!)

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Music Recommendations: Ocean Love

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“When I heard the sea, I heard your soul.” – writing prompt

These are just a handful of songs that make me think of star crossed love and the ocean.

#1: LMLY by Jackson Wang

#2: Lost by Maroon 5

#3: Golden by Harry Styles

#4: Where We Wanna Be by Ben Barnes

#5: Breaking Down by Ailee

Seriously though, the Ben Barnes one sounds like a male siren luring a young maiden out to sea!

Hope you enjoy the music! 🙂 ❤

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Star Wars: Snoke was THAT little boy?!

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HERE’S WHAT I WOULD’VE DONE: EPISODE 2

SNOKE THEORY (waaaaay past it’s expiration date, I know!)

I think my favorite thing about the sequel trilogy was all of the thought experiments that it gave me.

I mean, if it had been completely perfect then there would’ve been nothing for my writer brain to theorize about, pick apart, or flat-out re-write in my head.

As things stand – oh lordy, are there plenty of things to think about!

(I mean, c’mon, this scene was ridiculous!)

Here’s one that was a theory of mine from waaaay back in the day right after The Last Jedi came out, you know, back when things were iffy in the Star Wars world but nobody had yet witnessed the absolute mess that was The Rise of Skywalker, so people were still generally amicable.

The Last Jedi ended, as you may recall, with a shot of a little slave boy using the Force to call his broom to his hand before staring out at the stars, the writers wanting us to think ‘oh boy, things are changing around here!’. Well, haha, here’s what I have to say to that.

Rewind the film a little bit, and you remember that Kylo killed Snoke, his oppressive, giant, decaying master, to save Rey.

My theory, was that Snoke had discovered the secret of immortality and that Snoke was in fact Darth Plagueis the Wise. The secret to immortality, to not-dying, and the explanation for Snoke’s decaying body was – well, soul jumping.

I think, that Darth Plagueis had learned to soul jump and was jumping from body to body to body and at the end of The Last Jedi, when he got killed, his soul jumped into the body of that little slave boy, and now he was plotting revenge against Kylo, Rey and the galaxy. THAT was why the slave boy suddenly had the Force, even though he hadn’t had it earlier in the film when he’d met Rose and Finn. THAT was why he was looking out at the stars so seriously.

And then, instead of them basically doing a poorer version of that with Palpatine (“somehow – Palpatine returned.”) the third film would’ve seen our heroes having to battle with (and possibly kill/have to think about killing) a child. Not an evil child, but a child that was being possessed by Darth Plagueis. Oh, the drama that could’ve ensued!

Then, you could’ve gone into a whole ‘maybe Palpatine himself WAS Plagueis, maybe there had only ever been Plagueis, maybe Plagueis was the first ever Sith Lord and he was just constantly soul jumping from body to body, and that’s why there was only ever two sith – Plagueis and the body that would eventually BECOME Plagueis! And, if he was the first sith, then maybe Rey was the reincarnation of the first ever Jedi and that’s why she was so strong and important!’. By the way, I have so many thoughts about Rey. You can look forward to many more posts about her and my thoughts and theories (good and bad) on her character.

But basically, yeah, I think (and will always think) that that little slave boy at the end of The Last Jedi was/should’ve been Snoke, still alive, plotting more evil for the galaxies and coming for Reylo’s head.

What do you think???

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Song Recs of the Week

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How would you guys like weekly song recommendations? Songs with writing prompts on the side?

You would?

Really?

Great!

Here you go! 🙂

I’m gonna give you a song, a theme, a place and a time.

#1: Alone by Junny from Witch’s Diner OST.

Story Prompt: Unrequited Love and (to make it more interesting) the place will be Space and the time will be 15th Century.

#2: Billie Bossa Nova by Billie Eilish.

This song is a little sassy – I keep trying to think of a story prompt to make it funny, but I can’t think of anything hahaha xD Write whatever you want just make it PG!

#3: Solar Waltz by Cosmo Sheldrake.

Story Prompt: You’re an android in a steampunk city in the sky and you’re falling in love for the first time.

#4: One Headlight by the Wallflowers.

Story Prompt: It’s a snowy day in NYC and you’re hunting down a lead for a story that’s going to get you that big promotion at the paper.

#5: Diary, from Feel Good to Die OST.

Story Prompt: A hard working book seller in the 12th century that’s on the run from the law.

That’s all I got! Hahaha, I hope you guys enjoy the music 🙂 let me know if you write any stories!

Happy Wednesday:)

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The Best Writing Advice!

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“CUT WHAT YOU LOVE.” – Joss Whedon

It sounds pretty extreme but truly, if you’re ever working on a project and you’re stuck or you’re just not sure how to take it to the next level then – CUT WHAT YOU LOVE.

That doesn’t mean anything crazy or Hitchcock, not at all!

It means look at your work and take your favorite scene or character or even plot-point, the one that you keep re-reading, re-editing, re-working, re-living and – cut it.

Right out!

Pretend that it doesn’t exist and continue the story from that point on. If you’re really lucky, then when you’re going back through and editing everything, cleaning it all up and fine-tuning the rough spots you’ll be able to re-insert that favorite scene back into the story in an even better, more special, more beautiful way.

I did it. I was stuck, about 90 pages into my story and I just kept re-working those first 90 pages, fixing the spelling and the grammar and changing the locations around and the characters names, but never progressing any further.

Then, while I was mindlessly browsing the internet one day, I came across this bit of advice from Joss Whedon, whom you might know as the creator of the cult classic Firefly, or as the writer of the first Avengers film.

I was shocked and appalled at the thought of cutting my favorite scene, the part that I loved the most, that excited me and made me happy, out of my story, but I did it, and then suddenly the rest of the book flowed on its own out onto the page.

And, I was lucky enough to be able to go back and fit my favorite bits back in later. 🙂

So, if you’ve got a creative project that you’re stuck in, give it a try, cut what you love, and see what happens!

Writer OUT 🙂

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Show Don’t Tell!

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BELLARKE VS. BECHO

“Remember, show don’t tell.”


I feel like that is the first, last and only bit of writing advice that anyone ever really gives.


Show don’t tell.


“You’re writing a book? Remember, show don’t tell.”


“Oh, you’re working on a screenplay? Remember, show don’t tell.”


“Yeah, what you’ve got here is great and all but, remember, show don’t tell.”


Which is awesome, except, I often found myself scratching my head feeling like – how? What even IS showing? What’s the difference between telling and giving the audience vital information? And, after that HOW do I find the perfect balance of Show & Tell?

Well, I’ve found the perfect example of what SHOW is and what TELL is.


Bellarke vs. Becho.

Bellarke (above)
Becho (above)

In CW’s The 100, Bellarke is, was and always will be the main superior ship of Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin from episode 1. If you’re like me, then you know that there was no going back from the moment that Clarke fell into that pit in episode 2 and Bellamy caught her hand. You know the one I’m talking about ;). No going back. None.

And yet, we all know how things ended… don’t mind me, I’m just going to go and scream into a pillow for a few minutes.

Ok, I’m back.


So, Bellarke. Yeah, pretty amazing ship. A true OTP if there ever was one. But, they were never quote un-quote CANON.


A couple that WAS canon was Becho, who, as you might recall, became a couple between seasons 4 and 5 during the space hiatus. Bellamy was in space, Clarke was on the ground, he thought she was dead, Echo was there – end of story.

So, here’s where the SHOW vs. TELL comes in.


In the show, they constantly had to tell us BECHO IS A THING. Until the final season (which I think we can all agree is not part of the real show) we did not get a single flashback to Spacekru’s time on the Arc. Then in season 7 we got a single scene where Echo and Bellamy shared their first kiss. It was almost like the writers realized “oh, maybe people don’t like this ship, because we haven’t SHOWN them any of their romantical development!” and so they forced it in there at the last moment.


Before that scene, however, all we ever got was BECHO IS A THING, OK, DEAL WITH IT! Lines like, “we met in a cage.” “who knows more about forgiveness then us, right?” “It took you 2 (or was it 3? Honestly, I can’t remember because I died of an eyeroll when I heard it) years to even talk to me.” or something like that, were all that we ever got to validate their relationship.

Now, more honesty, I originally, back in season 2 when Bellamy and Echo first met, didn’t hate the idea of the two of them becoming a couple. But then, they went and really (in my opinion) ruined their relationship over the course of the next two seasons (showing us that Echo was waaaaay more into Roan btw!), only to come back in season 5 with the two of them dating.


OK, fine. Then show it!

Show us the scenes of Bellamy being sad about Clarke and his sister, Octavia, and show us Echo comforting him. Show us scenes of them fighting, arguing and struggling to live together up there on the Arc and then show them softening towards one another. Give us a scene where Bellamy rages at Echo for causing the deaths of Gina, Clarke and trying to kill Octavia (multiple times, I’m pretty sure) and then she breaks down in tears apologizing for what she’s done and confessing that she loves him and would do anything to earn his forgiveness. Show me something, ANYTHING.

But, no.

All we got was – BECHO IS A THING. DEAL WITH IT.

What they did show us was Bellarke.

Bellarke being a team. Bellarke needing each other, saving each other, caring for each other, writing each other’s names down on the bunker list, forgiving each other over and over and over again. Bellarke fighting, breaking down, crying, willing to let the entire human race die for the other – and then, being reunited, the hugs (aaaaalll of the hugs!!!), eye-banging each other all the time, the looks of regret, the almost disgust on Clarkes face when she sees Becho for the first time – the list of all of the Bellarke romantic relationship that they SHOW us is ENDLESS. There are too many moments to list, too many glances, touches, remarks from other characters, hidden expressions, half-said truths, etc…

In summation, in “Show Don’t Tell” the writers of the 100 TOLD us that BECHO IS A THING but they SHOWED us that BELLARKE IS A THING. DEAL WITH THAT.

So, the next time that you’re confused and you’re not sure if you are showing or telling in your writing just ask yourself, are you giving the reader Becho, or Bellarke? And if you’re giving Bellarke – can you please give us a better ending?? Please??!! I seriously, don’t think I’ll ever get over them and how robbed we all were.

At least they’re married in real life.

Writer OUT.

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Here’s What I Would’ve Done!! When The Devil Calls Your Name (korean drama)

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When the Devil Calls Your Name is a brilliant tvN 2019 K-Drama inspired by the 18th century German play Faust starring Jung Kyung Ho and Park Sung Woong as the Devil.


First off, it’s really an awesome drama. If you haven’t seen it, you really should go watch it over on Viki right now. Seriously, pause reading this and go over and watch it right now, if you don’t want to be spoiled.


If you don’t mind spoilers, then please join me for episode 1 of Here’s What I Would’ve Done…


Now, I know you’re thinking, “But, you just said it was brilliant. Why would you wanna change anything about it?”
Because, it was brilliant – for the first 14 episodes. It’s only the last 2 that I would change as those were, to be honest, a real mess.


The first 14 episodes followed Jung Kyung Ho, or as he will be referred to in this post as Devil Guy (even though he wasn’t the devil, he was the guy that sold his soul to the devil, but that’s just my nickname for him, ok!), an old washed up musician who sold his soul to the devil for youth, fame and fortune, but when the Devil, Park Sung Woong, comes to collect he tries to re-neg on the deal in any way that he can.


In the beginning, the Devil tells him that if he re-negs on the deal he will go back to his life before, where he is old, poor and alone, and that everyone who’s life he touched on account of the deal will revert back to their original paths as well. This freaks Devil guy out and he instead promises to find the Devil an A-grade soul to replace his.

That’s when the rest of the story really kicks off as he finds a young, talented, down on her luck, nice girl whom he believes has that A-grade soul that he’s after. He fosters her music career all the while trying to figure out how to get her to sign a soul contract.
But, something unexpected happens. He starts to like her. Not necessarily in that romantic way, (although there were some scenes that made me think…) but in that “this is a really nice person that I like as a human being” kind of way. So, he starts to try to think of new ways to wiggle out of his own wretched soul contract – but it’s all for naught.


I won’t spoil the rest of the plot – I’ll just jump right into what I would’ve done.


I would’ve ended the series where the only way out of the contract was for him to go back to being that poor, washed up, alone, has-been, that he had been before. The Devil had said that THAT was an option.


How inspiring would it have been to have the show end where he is able to change his past, undo this great mistake of selling his soul to the devil out of despair, and embrace his life as it was, saving the people that he cared about (spoiler alert he knew the A-grade girl back when he was an old washed up has-been) and living out the remainder of his days quietly and goodly, turning everyone that he met away from the empty temptations of the Devil. It would’ve turned it into Faust meets Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

(incidentally this is my favorite version of A Christmas Carol from 1997 starring Tim Curry)


The show didn’t end that way. It kind’ve ended in a way that was like “so, yeah, you know even if you sell your soul, sometimes it can just come back to you.”


Oh, ok. Then – what was the point of all the pain, drama? Why did you put us, the audience, through the ringer if the solution in the end was just, “you know, someday you’ll be fine.”?


I still loved the show, it was brilliant – the first 14 episodes, the last 2, as I’ve said, were a mess. Therefore, in my opinion, the show would’ve been a lot better if the solution in the end had been to reverse the deal, give up all of the money, youth and fame, to live and die a normal life – a better life, as a better person.


Writer OUT

PS – The soundtrack is absolutely amazing! Here’s one of my favorite songs.

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