Yes, that was one of the first things I thought about this morning -- yea! And yes, I know that's sad. But for those of you who are interested, I did find out that they've already signed BSG (Battlestar Galactica) for another season. *grin* And creator, Ron Moore (one of those beautiful people behind Roswell, another of my favorite sci-fi shows) has a blog on scifi.com. It's interesting to read it from a writing perspective. How they create characters, what went into their worldbuilding for BSG.
Worldbuilding, for those who might not be familiar, is a term used by sci-fi/fantasy writers of all varieties for the work that's done to create a fictional society. In other words, setting up the rules of the world, the society and the groups within that society. The Jedi and the Force, for example, is an example of worldbuilding from the Star Wars stories. In The Silver Spoon, it would be how Earth in the story works differently than the Earth we know (the presence of Observers) and what rules make up the Observer society and the microcosm of it that Asha, Caelan, Thane and Namere live in.
When you're creating a world that's different than what viewers or readers are used to, you have to create consistent rules and then make those rules make sense. You can't just create a planet with lighter gravity than Earth, for example, without showing how life on that planet is different than what the reader/viewer is used to. And you kind of have to explain, in a subtle way, why gravity is different there. A character who is new to the setting is useful for this kind of thing.
One of the more irritating things that's done, usually in movies and tv, is when you have characters who've lived with a particular aspect of their world or lives for years, yet they suddenly feel the need to discuss it like it's something unusual. That's the writer trying to convey information about the world to the viewer/reader. Actually, BSG just did this a couple a weeks ago in an otherwise great episode. And honestly, I can't blame them for this, as I don't know how else they would have conveyed the information to the audience and the info was necessary to understand what Starbuck was doing. Starbuck was trying to get an alien ship to fly and she felt the need to say aloud, to herself, that all ships have four major controls. And she proceeded to list the four. Um, okay. A pilot with the kind of skills Starbuck has probably doesn't need to remind herself of the basics out loud. But she was the only character in the scene and if she hadn't said it out loud, the viewers would have had no idea what she was doing. Sometimes this kind of explanatory dialogue is unavoidable.
That's one of the advantages of writing books and stories. The reader can see into the characters' minds. The information can sometimes still be clumsily handed out in big clumps. But you usually have better opportunities to build the world in a more subtle way.
Wow. I had no intention of even discussing that in this blog entry. Huh. Oh, well. Anyway, this is my one weekend in February where I don't have an event scheduled. So, I'm planning to dig in and finish this synopsis, damnit! I've been dragging it out too long. And I know from experience just getting it down on the page is the hardest part. Editing it and fixing it up afterward is a lot easier, but not possible until you get the words down.
So, I hope the next time I write a blog entry it will have the title, "Synopsis Finished!!!" : )
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2 comments:
Of course ... Starbuck could be just one of those people who talk to themselves to figure out a problem.
hey stace,
i dont know when you'll check this and im going to call you tonight so you'll get the details later. I think mom told you about the situation and this is one of the hardest days ive ever been through. its bad. they were really good people
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