Okay, yeah, it's been a really long time since I posted an update. Just haven't had the motivation. Other things to worry about. I could either work on Tourist Hunter or I could post crap on my website. That's what's known as an easy choice. Speaking of Tourist Hunter, it's done. Believe it or not, I'm just waiting on the cover image, which is taking a lot longer than I thought, but since other people are involved, there's really not much I can do beyond pull at my hair and hope I don't rip it all out.
So while I've had nothing I've wanted to write about in this here space, I've been more than a little aware of the fact that it's been lying here rather seriously dead. Not that anybody's been reading, but there's dead and then there's dead. And, this thing has been rather on the above average side of dead for far too long.
Round about six months ago, I had a rather impressive brain storm on how to deal with the death situation. See, there's these terms I've been kicking around in the back of my mind and occasionally using in my Goodreads.com book reviews.
So, here they are. Now, I was hoping to edit them a bit, but getting around to editing them is what has resulted in those past six months—well—passing.
Exploding Shark
Events that make little to no logical sense but happen anyway because they add to the dramatic tension or just look cool. Named for the ending of Jaws in which the main character shoots a compressed air tank in the sharks mouth causing the shark to explode. AKA Made for TV or Made Like Really Bad TV.
Examples:
Jaws; Star Wars; Transformers; The Bourne Identity; Transformers; Skyfall; Lost; Did I mention Transformers? (I could go on for days)
Checklisting
Referencing or otherwise including details that will become relevant or important later that were also the only details referenced or included. Also, referencing or including details in such a way to make them really stand out as obviously important. Checklisting can be easily mistaken for foreshadowing. While foreshadowing is hinting, checklisting is just pointing. To misuse Chekhov’s Gun and otherwise set up a strawman, checklisting occurs when you put a gun center stage with a big sign on it labeled gun and all the characters comment on the fact there's a gun.
Examples:
The Name of the Wind; A Game of Thrones
Reverse-engineered Plot
Characters behaving in nonsensical or illogical ways or otherwise needing to basically break character so that a specific outcome can occur. In other words, the author twisted the characters and situations into knots in order to reach a predetermined conclusion.
Example:
Interstellar
Recursive Character
A character introduced because he or she will do something or otherwise prove to be important later but then only does something or is important because he or she was introduced.
Example:
The Matrix Reloaded & The Matrix Revolution
Tortured Artist Martyr Porn
Characters lamenting how great they are and how nobody recognizes their greatness. They complain about how they deserve better if only others would recognize their greatness. They frequently have persecution complexes, convinced that others are jealously keeping them down. These characters are also typically their own worst enemy, behaving in such ways as to drive everyone else away or otherwise make enemies of the rest of the cast.
Examples:
The Name of the Wind; Atlas Shrugged; The Fountainhead
So, yeah, that's the list. I really should write something intelligent here one of these days.