Best Lj School Listing EVAR!!!

[wednes]

And I'm so bummed I didn't think of it myself.

Just keep in mind that the real school will have to be at least three times this size...

Your LJ Halloween Party by cerulean_dreams
Username
What are you going to be for Halloween?
Dressed up as a Vampire	jezaimee
Came as a psycho Clown	lickingtoad
Dressed up as a Nudist	raggedrose
Came as a Sexy Witch	sugarytea
Painted themselves yellow and ran around screaming	emperorsamir
Dressed up as a Pirate	slapnticklejr
Wore a Catwoman outfit	porcelain72
Dressed up as Dr. Frankenfurter	mediocratez
Spiked the Punch	joe_christ
Is coming after you with a real knife	near_dark
Quiz created with MemeGen!

While I'm here, I beleive I'll post my one word review of the Family Guy movie: Meh. As we observed during the special features, "mildly amused" pretty much sums it up. Some very funny moments, and a slightly better plot than we often get on the TV. But all in all, I didn't laugh as much as I expected it to do. You'd think people would have learned from South Park that shocking us with vulgarity is fine but it's still absolutley critical that you be funny.

Myself, I only do funny in a casual way. I would never attempt to do it professionally. In all seriousness, I think that comedy writers tend to be more screwed up emotionally than people who do horror. No, I'm not basing this on anything but my own impressions. But I think horror writers (the good ones, not the book equivalent of a slasher movie) are more prone to be introspective. They probably have a better understanding of insanity just because they need it for thier work. Comedy writers, OTOH, are funny to keep from dealing with overwhelming things plaguing them in real life: repression, rage, intense fears, all kinds of crap. I guess I suspect this because that's what I use comedy for in real life, but my writing is totally separate from that. My writing is much more sarcastic than funny, which I guess sarcasm is just wit with a bunch of anger thrown in for good measure. Anyone feel me on this?

Comments

[1-woman-army.livejournal.com]

I totally feel you on this. I'm a huge smartass. I can honestly say that an hour doesn't go by in my life where I don't say at least one sarcastic thing. And all of this sarcasm started out as a defense mechanism...not healthy, but true.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I have to wonder how obvious my clinging to sarcasm is while I'm out in the world. Frankly, if you make people laugh, they don't care about the rest.

[1-woman-army.livejournal.com]

I doubt it's all that obvious, because I tend to think that most sarcastic people are clinging to sarcasm as a defense mechanism. And there are a lot of us....which means we stand out as witty among the clueless; and among our own, the insecure and the defensive, we just feel at home.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

That's probably very true.

[everythingtold.livejournal.com]

Lots of people use humor to deal with things. I've been told that I'm halarious. I wouldn't say that but I would say that when I go to describe a regular daily event that lasted five minutes, it takes me about an hour to explain it. Well, I think a lot of it is, I try to make events out to be funny (or at least insanely goofy) because otherwise, it'd be sad. :) I would say that most people I know are twisted anyway so I don't have the best place to judge from (yep, including myself). As for horror? Oh! It's always the nice, sweet people who write that kind of stuff. I've read some really twisted thrillers and when I look at the back cover, they usually have something in their Bio or their 'thank you' section that says that people are always telling them that they look "way to nice to be writing this stuff". *shrugs*

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I don't imagine anyone would say I'm too nice to write the scary stuff I try to write. We shall see.

[madush69.livejournal.com]

I want to be funny because it feels like people like me if I make them laugh. Just like if they applaud. It feels good. Sometimes...often times, I misfire with my attempts at humor, but I do try to make people laugh or smile. Sometimes when I misfire, someone will say something that makes me feel just two inches tall, but most of the time, if my humor doesn't hit its mark, folks just chalk it up to me trying to be funny.

[everythingtold.livejournal.com]

Family Guy! I think it's funny but I don't get to watch it (or anything else) on a regular basis. Little Anthony doesn't understand why I won't let him watch that or Sourth Park. Um . . . because not all cartoons are for children! Actually, my issue with SpongeBob (unless I am in the room with him) is that I really don't think that most cartoons (or television for that matter) are appropriate for children. Now, I'm not a big jerk or anything but I'd much rather he play outside or play computer games (like matching games or things like that) or play with his leappad or do simple math-games with me, you know? I probably am not a very fun mommy in that aspect :(

[wednes.livejournal.com]

I think it's important that parents don't let thier kids watch any old thing. Of course, I say this not having any kids. My TV is on a lot of the time, but I'm getting better at turning it off and playing music or something instead. It's harder to keep bad TV from the kids when it's on all the time.

[diamond-life.livejournal.com]

I understand you completely. That's a very interesting take on comedy writers vs. horror writers.

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I only hope I haven't offended any of the comedy writers who read here.

Hmmm...I grasp the point...

[paulcurtis.livejournal.com]

...But I'm not certain I know a broad enough spectrum of writers to make that generalization. I WOULD say that professional Horror Writers are, on the average, less screwed-up than professional Comedy Performers.

But it seems like every angst-ridden writer thinks he or she can write Horror, and speaking as someone who's worked as a Submissions Editor, most of them can't do a publishable job of it. Just like every drunk thinks he (or she) can tell a joke. But look at the ones who are proficient enough to make money at writing Horror or Humor, and I'm not sure one group outclasses the other, in being well-balanced.

(Incidentally, I would generally classify your work as demonstrating a more professional attitude than most, so I'm not damning you to the "angst-ridden writer who thinks she can write Horror" pile. In case you wondered...)

As for actual Performers...well, it helps to be a bit unbalanced, in that field...

Also, I tend to distinguish between different varieties of writer (humor AND horror)...there are a lot of writers who can come up with story ideas that follow a certain formula, and it doesn't have to come from any deeply-felt emotion, one way or the other. Take a look at the reprints of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, for instance...those horror stories are mostly as mechanical as a mousetrap, but they make a satisfying SNAP. Most TV comedies also follow a specific pattern, satisfying to viewers, but not really an evocation of the writers' deep need to express something.

One of my favorite personal examples was a discussion I had with a girlfriend, years ago; she favored very personal, very gut-level horror...I prefer writing horror with a structure, because it CAN embody personal feelings, but a story that follows familiar patterns is more likely to get a positive reaction from the reader. She thought this was utterly trivial crap. Then I told her a story I had worked-out which was really quite disturbing, and she was much impressed with it...until I explained the underlying structure and that the premise was based on wordplay; it absolutely RUINED the effect for her. She wanted the story to be dredged-up from my deepest unspoken nightmares, and underneath it was just a pun, gussied-up to resemble a nightmare. Happily, most people need never see the gears and pulleys...they just experience the story. And so it goes for comedy writing. The more structure, the fewer belly-laughs likely...but you leave the audience wanting more. The most successful material will always strike a good balance.

Re: Hmmm...I grasp the point...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

You make some very good points here. I do find that I want my horror stories to be relentless and intensely psychological. As such, I find that they are not as commercial as other things I come across.

I have done a few short stories that are structured and have a punchy ending. Even though they get good responses, I just don't like them as much as the more personal accounts of real life terror. They just don't mean as much to me.

That said, my approach to NaNoWriMo this year is something more structured so I can see how organic I can still be with character development. I really hope it's possible that I can write something structured with wide appeal and still be true to myself. I suspect that an MFA in creative writing would help me there. As soon as I get it together to take the GRE, I'm going to start applying. Of course, I've been saying that for several years now.

Re: Hmmm...I grasp the point...

[paulcurtis.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's usually most satisfying when one's horror writing evokes an actual emotion...I've just found that the results are much more likely to satisfy everybody when that heartfelt feeling is draped over a structure, rather than presented INSTEAD of structure.

The best result is when the reader is so wrapped-up in the story, there is no sense that it is following a pattern. At best, there should be a delicious moment where the reader wonders, "Where is this GOING?!" ...but the challenge is to make sure that it actually goes somewhere.

My favorite example of a movie that gets almost all the way there, is JEEPERS CREEPERS...and then the last five minutes fall completely flat, ruining all that has gone before. I've had a roomful of people shout "THAT'S the ENDING!?" when I showed it to them. And if you listen to the Director's commentary, he thinks it's a GOOD ending!

Re: Hmmm...I grasp the point...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Oh man...Jeepers Creepers was such a huge dissapointment. One of the classic terrible endings, like "It" or Alien 4. And yeah, it's so much worse when it's good all the way through and then suddenly falls flat.

Actually, ID4 was also this way. Started out with scary alien action and ended up a pandering peice of fluff. Damn shame.

Re: Hmmm...I grasp the point...

[wednes.livejournal.com]

PS I LOVE Tales from the Crypt, both the comic and the HBO show. The modern updates were not only punchy, well directed and fun; but they utilzed incredible--almost surreal casting choices week after week.

Adam Ant acting with Blythe Danner was priceless...much like Malcom McDowell feasting on the blood of George Wendt.

Crypt

[paulcurtis.livejournal.com]

I was glad Bill Gaines lived to see the day when TALES FROM THE CRYPT was a hit TV show, after having been chased away from comic book publishing because of it (along with VAULT and HAUNT.) There was a charming irony in it.

And the shows were pretty cool, too!

Re: Crypt

[wednes.livejournal.com]

Yep. those first 2 seasons are tops on my wish list.