Tim Kring, creator of Heroes, on what went wrong with Season 2 and he's doing to fix it.
What stands out is he doesn't get wishy-washy. He flat out admits his mistakes and promises to fix his show.
I think that is an important attribute for any writer.
It's good the creator knows his show has hit a rock, and maybe he'll fix it. Like Lost. The network realized the show wasn't working, so they forced changes.
It's really cool that he's able to step back and acknowledge the blunders he feels the show has made. I definitely agree with you, lehollis, about that being a good attribute.
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I wish I could learn from my mistakes...
Same here, Robert. I've been thinking about it a lot since I wrote that first post.
Listening to readers is obvious. As is making sure your readers are decent ones.
Being critical of your own work is hard, but also a somewhat obvious answer. Reading a lot is probably a good idea, too.
So, what else? How does one get better at looking at their work and seeing where it goes wrong.
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I read subtitles effortlessly, but then I grew up on subtitled Akira Kurasawa and Ingmar Bergman.
My own childhood has a lot of subtitles in it - if that doesn't sound funny. :p
I think the font and the name/place nature of the subtitles was what annoyed me, and that there seemed to be so many of them - too many switches and reminders that pulled me out of the narrative rather than helped. Dialogue subtitles are fine with me. I've kind of gotten attached to the quirky way they slip the chapter title into each episode now, though.
Lehollis: The only thing that makes me get better at looking at my own work is leaving it aside long enough that reading it again for an edit feels like reading it for the first time. In other words, I have to get out of my own head and come around to it as a reader again. Putting on my hardcore lit-analyzing hat (prime word there being anal) helps me see things more objectively, too, if I don't have time to let the work "cool."
So, I've decided to reread authors whose world stands out vividly to me. I'm going to go through it line by line and try to decipher how they go about revealing their world.
I think a lot of learning to write well is learning what effect your words have on your reader, and how you can control that effect.
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Lehollis: The only thing that makes me get better at looking at my own work is leaving it aside long enough that reading it again for an edit feels like reading it for the first time. In other words, I have to get out of my own head and come around to it as a reader again. Putting on my hardcore lit-analyzing hat (prime word there being anal) helps me see things more objectively, too, if I don't have time to let the work "cool."
Yep, good idea. My own WiP has been cooling about seven weeks, now. I'm about ready to pick it up and start working seriously on it, again. Thanks for sharing.
The subtitles in Heroes didn't bother me. It looks like they're either hit or miss. (I did think it was a bit too much when they had another subtitle-only thread this season, though.)
I also liked that they had fun with the subtitles, like when Hiro gulped in one subtitled scene, and the subtitle read "Gulp".
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So, I've decided to reread authors whose world stands out vividly to me. I'm going to go through it line by line and try to decipher how they go about revealing their world.
Let me know what you learn about it, if you can, Anne.
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I'll bet one thing the people whose worlds come through clear do is use specifics in their descriptions rather than generics.
Frankly the show had me at "Superhero"