Karin Shah's Blog - Posts Tagged "supernatural"
The Trouble with Lie To Me
Lie to Me has all the stuff I love in a show, a team who solve mysteries, lots of running around, a strong and complex central character, so I couldn't figure out why I stopped watching at the end of the second season.
I returned to the show, because I have to have something to watch on the treadmill (if I don't, I can't do it. I have to distract myself) So I went back and I figured out my problem. It's a problem the writers created from day one. Empathy.
It's a classic writer's technique. Elicit empathy for your characters and people will love them and care about what happens to them.
One of the most basic ways to create empathy is to submit a character to unfair criticism.
Cal Lightman is the hero of the show. He can be arrogant, but I still like him because of the many rooting interests the writers give him, other people like him, he's good at his job, he's very active. But, Lightman is always picking on one character, Loker.
Because of this constant unfair criticism (and, I have to be honest the actor is handsome. I know it's shallow. Don't judge me*g*.) which is barely explained, Loker is my favorite character on the show. Now, we have a situation where the hero is always bashing my favorite character. Therefore, making me like the hero less and care less about what happens to him and...I stopped watching. I'm not saying characters an't have conflict. Dean and Sam are always fighting. Sean and Gus fight. But, their relationships are equal. Loker is Lightman's employee, not his brother or his best friend from childhood. What do you think? Are you a fan of Lie to Me? Am I way off base? Are there other shows you can think of that have a problem like this?
I'd love to hear. And I'm not lying*g*...
Karin
I returned to the show, because I have to have something to watch on the treadmill (if I don't, I can't do it. I have to distract myself) So I went back and I figured out my problem. It's a problem the writers created from day one. Empathy.
It's a classic writer's technique. Elicit empathy for your characters and people will love them and care about what happens to them.
One of the most basic ways to create empathy is to submit a character to unfair criticism.
Cal Lightman is the hero of the show. He can be arrogant, but I still like him because of the many rooting interests the writers give him, other people like him, he's good at his job, he's very active. But, Lightman is always picking on one character, Loker.
Because of this constant unfair criticism (and, I have to be honest the actor is handsome. I know it's shallow. Don't judge me*g*.) which is barely explained, Loker is my favorite character on the show. Now, we have a situation where the hero is always bashing my favorite character. Therefore, making me like the hero less and care less about what happens to him and...I stopped watching. I'm not saying characters an't have conflict. Dean and Sam are always fighting. Sean and Gus fight. But, their relationships are equal. Loker is Lightman's employee, not his brother or his best friend from childhood. What do you think? Are you a fan of Lie to Me? Am I way off base? Are there other shows you can think of that have a problem like this?
I'd love to hear. And I'm not lying*g*...
Karin
Stop in for a chat
Come and chat with me today at:
http://nightskydarkstar.blogspot.com/
Enter the contest for a chance to win or just keep a lonely author company. We can talk dogs or Supernatural or Grimm or Arrow...or whatever...:-)
http://nightskydarkstar.blogspot.com/
Enter the contest for a chance to win or just keep a lonely author company. We can talk dogs or Supernatural or Grimm or Arrow...or whatever...:-)
Shiny Things week of July 20th
The things that consume me this week.
1. Teen Wolf. I love this show. The characters are great (and oh, so pretty). The conflicts are engrossing and episodes are full of moments of awesome. Thank God for summer seasons!
2. San Antonio. I'm heading to Texas to attend the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I will be signing copies of my new book ENTITY MINE at the Literacy signing, which is open to the public. Here's the deets from the RWA website:
<<
The 2014 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing will be on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel in the 3rd floor ballroom.
This year, proceeds from the Literacy Autographing will benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, Literacy Texas, Restore Education, and Each One Teach One San Antonio.
Spread the word about the Literacy Autographing!
Share the event on Facebook
Tweet about it (#RWA14)
Reply "yes" to the event on Goodreads
Questions may be e-mailed to literacy@rwa.org.>>>
If you're in San Antonio, stop by the signing and see me. We can talk books, Teen Wolf or Supernatural, dogs or whatever. I usually have chocolate to share!
What's distracting you this week?
1. Teen Wolf. I love this show. The characters are great (and oh, so pretty). The conflicts are engrossing and episodes are full of moments of awesome. Thank God for summer seasons!
2. San Antonio. I'm heading to Texas to attend the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I will be signing copies of my new book ENTITY MINE at the Literacy signing, which is open to the public. Here's the deets from the RWA website:
<<
The 2014 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing will be on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel in the 3rd floor ballroom.
This year, proceeds from the Literacy Autographing will benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, Literacy Texas, Restore Education, and Each One Teach One San Antonio.
Spread the word about the Literacy Autographing!
Share the event on Facebook
Tweet about it (#RWA14)
Reply "yes" to the event on Goodreads
Questions may be e-mailed to literacy@rwa.org.>>>
If you're in San Antonio, stop by the signing and see me. We can talk books, Teen Wolf or Supernatural, dogs or whatever. I usually have chocolate to share!
What's distracting you this week?
Shiny Things 1/7/2015
Shiny Things January 7, 2015
Things that are distracting me this week...
Galavant on ABC. With music by Alan Menken, a pretty cast, and hilarious lyrics and one-liners, this irreverent cross between Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Once Upon a Time is not to be missed by musical fans! And we Psych and Supernatural fans get the bonus of Timothy Ormundson as the bad King Richard. He sings, he dances, he hugs. 'Nuff said!
More TV. Josh Gates from Destination Truth returns in a new Travel Channel show called Expedition Unknown! If you don't know him, you should. I love his tongue in cheek sense of humor. I wrote a ode to his old show Destination Truth (too ten reasons you should watch Destination Truth) and I listed him twice.
Still more TV. (I think we know what my Kryptonite is) American Haunting on Amazon Prime. This, new to me, ghost show fits the low bar I've set. It's about ghosts, but the first episode was very satisfying, as instead of just investigating and leaving the family to their haunted life, they end up ghost free.
Edits for my new YA Fantasy Romance HALFLING. Technically, since this is my actual work, it's not a distraction, but it's certainly concerning me. I actually love this part. Unfortunately, I love it a little too much and spend waaay too long thinking of the perfect word, simile, or metaphor! :-)
What's distracting you this week?
Things that are distracting me this week...
Galavant on ABC. With music by Alan Menken, a pretty cast, and hilarious lyrics and one-liners, this irreverent cross between Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Once Upon a Time is not to be missed by musical fans! And we Psych and Supernatural fans get the bonus of Timothy Ormundson as the bad King Richard. He sings, he dances, he hugs. 'Nuff said!
More TV. Josh Gates from Destination Truth returns in a new Travel Channel show called Expedition Unknown! If you don't know him, you should. I love his tongue in cheek sense of humor. I wrote a ode to his old show Destination Truth (too ten reasons you should watch Destination Truth) and I listed him twice.
Still more TV. (I think we know what my Kryptonite is) American Haunting on Amazon Prime. This, new to me, ghost show fits the low bar I've set. It's about ghosts, but the first episode was very satisfying, as instead of just investigating and leaving the family to their haunted life, they end up ghost free.
Edits for my new YA Fantasy Romance HALFLING. Technically, since this is my actual work, it's not a distraction, but it's certainly concerning me. I actually love this part. Unfortunately, I love it a little too much and spend waaay too long thinking of the perfect word, simile, or metaphor! :-)
What's distracting you this week?
Fear of what?
Since it’s NaNoWriMo, I’m going to share a writing struggle.
Every one of the Chimera Chronicles was inspired by something.
1. In Like a Lion has heavy the Pretender overtones.
2. Entity Mine was inspired by an episode of Discovery channel’s old A Haunting.
3. The Lion’s Share is inspired by an episode of Supernatural called Nightshifter.
4. Lion’s Prey in inspired by a Supernatural episode called Jus en Bello.
5. The Dragon’s Flame is a treasure hunt book.
I’m working on book 6 now, draft title Her Sexy Beast, and as you might guess, it’s centered on a Beauty Beast theme.
Oddly, I actually find it harder to write the parts that most closely mirror the original story. This morning I separated Sofia from Roan as called for in BATB, now I have to maneuver through the rest within the confines of the Chimera Chronicles mythology. I’m procrastinating. “I have to write a FB post!” Better check in on Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, post to my blog, etc. it’s important to me that I do this well, and I fear my best will not be good enough.
It’s not the first time I’ve mentioned my persistent self-doubt, but I think it’s important to recognize, that these issues don’t just turn to ash like traditional vampires in sunlight after being faced. It can help to acknowledge the problem, but it doesn’t cure it.
Fear is often a motivator (though, I believe most steps taken as a result of fear are usually in the wrong direction). But for me it’s always been more of a roadblock.
Are you working on NaNoWriMo? Or just waiting eagerly for the fruit of us madly typing writers?
Is fear holding you back from something?
I’d love to hear! (Selfishly, it make me feel less alone)😊
If you’d like to see this post with the pix, visit my wordpress blog.
https://wordpress.com/view/karinshah....
Every one of the Chimera Chronicles was inspired by something.
1. In Like a Lion has heavy the Pretender overtones.
2. Entity Mine was inspired by an episode of Discovery channel’s old A Haunting.
3. The Lion’s Share is inspired by an episode of Supernatural called Nightshifter.
4. Lion’s Prey in inspired by a Supernatural episode called Jus en Bello.
5. The Dragon’s Flame is a treasure hunt book.
I’m working on book 6 now, draft title Her Sexy Beast, and as you might guess, it’s centered on a Beauty Beast theme.
Oddly, I actually find it harder to write the parts that most closely mirror the original story. This morning I separated Sofia from Roan as called for in BATB, now I have to maneuver through the rest within the confines of the Chimera Chronicles mythology. I’m procrastinating. “I have to write a FB post!” Better check in on Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, post to my blog, etc. it’s important to me that I do this well, and I fear my best will not be good enough.
It’s not the first time I’ve mentioned my persistent self-doubt, but I think it’s important to recognize, that these issues don’t just turn to ash like traditional vampires in sunlight after being faced. It can help to acknowledge the problem, but it doesn’t cure it.
Fear is often a motivator (though, I believe most steps taken as a result of fear are usually in the wrong direction). But for me it’s always been more of a roadblock.
Are you working on NaNoWriMo? Or just waiting eagerly for the fruit of us madly typing writers?
Is fear holding you back from something?
I’d love to hear! (Selfishly, it make me feel less alone)😊
If you’d like to see this post with the pix, visit my wordpress blog.
https://wordpress.com/view/karinshah....
