Creativity

Boost The Signal: Roundup

by

We want better technology, better books, and more.  It seems like criticism of what’s out there doesn’t help.  What if we try to promote good works and Boost The Signal?  A look at how you can help out.

  • Boost The Signal – Want to see better technology, comics, and movies?  Boost the Signal for good works.  The basic philosophy of the series.
  • Be The Ambassador – Want to Boost the Signal on someone and their works?  You need to be an Ambassador.
  • The Basics – Ways to help Boost The Signal most anyone can do.
  • Advanced – Ready to take it further?  Here’s a way to real dive into helping someone get seen!
  • The Professional – A fellow professional?  Here’s how to use your professional abilities to help someone’s work you want to promote.
  • The Hate Is Built In – It seems critique of media or technology and so on doesn’t work – is it possible because our hate of lousy stuff is built into culture?

 

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Way With Worlds: Heroes and Villains – I’m With The Agency

by

Wild Dive

So let’s talk Heroes and Villains and your world.

I should note that when I talk Heroes and Villains I’m using that to pretty much mean the same thing as “Protagonist” and “Antagonist.” Why? Because it’s a hell of a lot easier to write “Hero and Villain” and sounds a tad less academic. I’ve got enough trouble going academic as it is.

So for the duration of my digressions, I hope you’ll forgive the simplicity.

But hey you have your main character(s) right? They’re the heroes and villains, correct? They’re the ones you focus on, right? The hero, especially, is the main character, right?

Not necessarily.

You may have a main character but they may not be a Hero. Oh there may be a Hero, but it’s not your main character.

For some writers, this is a problem, and it brings up an important issue in telling the stories of your world.

A Critical Definition

As noted earlier, when you’re writing, your Main character(s) of your story are essentially viewpoints on the world. In a few cases if you use a first-person writing style, quite directly so. But just because the story is from their perspective it may not mean they’re the Hero or Vllain.

When I try and define Hero and Villain, Protagonist and Antagonist, one thing that is critical is that the Heroes and Villains have effect. If your Hero is the main character the story is told from the perspective of someone affecting the setting. A Villain is the same way.

They may be morally different, but both are rather active, even if reluctantly or reactively (in the case of some Anti-Heroes).

In a way, Heroes and Villains are defined by a sense of Agency, of the ability to act and direct and change things. It may not be in a good way, or an effective way, or a competent way. They may fail, but their activity upon the environment is what makes them Heroes and Villains as much as their motivation.

You could be exceedingly evil, but if you’re in a coma due to your last drug binge in your lair of evil, you’re not really an Antagonist. You’re more an After-School Special for supervillains.

You could be exceptionally heroic, but if that results in no direction and activity, then you’re not really the Hero, are you? Yes you may be a nice guy, but you’re not really the Hero, you’re a well-meaning victim of circumstance.

Sense Of Agency, Sense of Story

Thus when you are deciding on your story, if you’re telling a tale of Heroism and/or with villainy, Heroes and Villains require agency, initiative and direction. If they do not act, they are merely acted upon and at best responding, and even then poorly.

This is a critical definition, as a few things happen to those who make tales that can ruin the sense of Agency.

  • We focus so much on worldbuilding, our characters bounce round like pinballs. Ever read a book that seemed to be an exercise in tourism? You get the idea.
  • We conjure up characters to tell the story or have it happen too. The Hero is there so stuff happens and things get done, but they’re not a character, not part of the world. They’re a camera with legs, making your tale the equivalent of a found-footage movie.
  • We spend too much time inside the Hero’s head we forget to make them a person. You don’t notice how unfurnished a room is if you keep looking out a window.

Now in a few cases if your Villain is a phenomena like a plague or something, then the Villain can lack agency in a human sense. Their “agency” comes from pure brute force and circumstance. But if you’re writing from a hero’s point of view and they have no initiative they’re no Hero.

You’ve probably read stories like above. Someone gets all the hero trappings but never does anything, never shows any initiatives. Never does anything. It’s boring – you find yourself wishing for a Mary Sue/Gary Stu because at least they’d do do stupidly overblown stuff.

(And if you can write a story where the Hero is a faceless force and the Villain has a sense of agency, I want to talk to you.)

However sometimes your main character doesn’t always have a sense of agency. In a few cases, this is actually OK.

The Narrative Character

If a main character is not a hero, not a person with a sense of Agency, then in many cases that can be quite lame. It’s not interesting to read about someone bouncing around. It’s annoying to just watch things happen to someone in a world, even if the world is well written.

Except in some cases, I do think this is a valuable form of storytelling – if done consciously.

Sometimes the main character isn’t a Hero, it’s what I call a Narrative Character. A Narrative Character is someone who relates what is happening but has little role in shaping what is going on. That may not sound interesting at the start, but I believe it can be done well if handled properly. Thus, I think in cases where this is deliberately chosen, this is a legitimate form of storytelling.

Now I should note that I think truly Narrative character, the victims of circumstance, are relatively rare. Usually they’re on a scale between Narrative Character and Hero. The exceptions are usually narrative stories, where someone is reiterating what’s going on.

But it’s a legitimate choice if you do it right.

I feel some of the best examples of Narrative Characters are often found in horror stories, especially those about people in the grip of unfathomable evil. Their narrative ability both explains the horror but also communicates their sheer overwhelming sense of being trapped. Lovecraftian tales often do this quite well.

Though I wouldn’t limit the idea of the Narrative Character just to horror.

Make Your Choice and Move On

So when writing and picking perspectives, remember that Heroes and Villains have a sense of Agency. If your main character lacks suck, there’s either a flaw in your choices, or you’re really writing a Narrative Character.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Geek As Citizen: The Hate Is Built In

by

Hashtag Confusion

So after spending a week or so discussing Boosting the Signal on good works, I want to cover something that inspired it, is part of it, and is part of Geek Citizenship. It is the role of criticism as part of our commercial, media, and technical systems – but mostly our media systems.

You’ve heard criticism of bad films, yet it seems we can make profitable Transformers films for decades to come (ending probably when someone does a porn parody with Orgasmus Prime*). You’ve heard how bad reality TV is, but the shows are still churning out even though everyone says how bad it is. The sameness of video games is a joke, and they keep selling, and we’re all busy on the forums complaining.

It’s almost to the level of a joke. The same arguments and criticisms are trotted out. The same Message Board posts ignite and Twitterrage spews. And it’s all alike time after time.

Let me humbly suggests that one of the problem with a lot of our commercial systems is simply that criticism isn’t coming from outside.

Criticism is part of the show. Including your comments and complaints.

Part Of The Spectacle

By now there’s a ritual of a new technology, new film, book sequel coming out, new game, etc. Inevitably flame wars and criticisms and outright attacks happen, the praise is predictable, everyone says what we expect, and then it dies down until the next time. In a few cases contrarianism kicks in and the hated thing becomes big or huge, or the loved things become hated.

After all, you can joke all you want about Twilight, but it was enormous, profitable, and is why we’re getting 50 Shades of 9 1/2 Weeks . . . er, Gray.

The complaining about how bad things are is part of the show. People get to yell, people get to listen, people get to argue with the yellers. However all the yelling and anger and laughing at how bad things are doesn’t seem to change much.

(Money seems to change things, as we’ve seen with reshuffling of films lately).

Complaining, criticizing, and outright whining and hatred is part of the whole of modern entertainment and culture. We’re used to snarky comments. Pundits make their entire living being jerks about things. In short, saying “this is bad” is just par for the course, expected, and lets us be part of the show.

It’s catharsis as critique.

That complaining about Transformers 4? Think of it as just a ritual and part of free publicity and morbid curiosity and it makes a lot more sense.**

The Psychology Of Helplessness

Feel helpless to improve things? Feel like the comics companies or media companies or whatever aren’t going to listen? That’s because yelling about how bad things are is expected, it’s part of the system, part of the show – even when legitimate it’s expected or tuned out due to the noise.

Is this intentional? No, I don’t think there’s some conspiracy or anything. It’s just the way things evolved in a fast-paced, connected world. Things are easily co-opted or normalized and culturally we’ve yet to adjust.

But it can make you feel helpless as hell because you’re saying things and nothing’s happening. But that’s not the kind of cultural system we evolved ñ we evolved a show.

To Beat The System Get Out Of The System

So one of the reasons I focused on Boost The Signal was the growing realization that all the complaining about things is built into our culture and media and is not designed to change things. It’s designed to entertain and allow catharsis.

Everyone wants to whine about how bad things are for money or attention. Some politicians base their careers on this, and they’re no different than people trolling message boards, they just get SuperPACs.

So, the best option for most people is to start Boosting The Signal. Make a difference by promoting things that are worth it. Yes, it may seem quite a mountain to scale, but the more people spend time with good media, good tech, the less time they spend with crap.

Now crap may be subjective here, but I’m going to trust your good taste.

Boosting the Signal gets you out of the system.

Boosting the Signal gets you active as opposed to complaining.

Boosting the Signal gives you a goal of having something happen as opposed to having something not happen – the former is far easier to measure.

Boosting the Signal might just give you or someone an idea to help us steer away from the spectacle of complaining.

So in short, shut up ad get to work. But first . . .

I Miss Good Critique

I’m not saying critique doesn’t have a role. A good critic is someone who can analyze, understand, and get you to think. It’s literally critique in the analytical sense not being critical all the time.

It’s just the good stuff is rare.

The late Roger Ebert is an example I often invoke in this case as he clearly thought about what he was seeing and talking about. He connected with you, he analyzed, he was thoughtful. In the business world he’ have been an Analyst, shuffling data and trends and processes and patterns to dig into what was really going on ñ and should be done.

One of the greatest examples of his work I think, ironically, was his take on “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” A seemingly un-noteable comedy, he felt it to be charming and interesting and sweet with a surprising hero. I was shocked at the positive statements in his review, and saw the movie only because of it – and I and my roommates were surprised at what a charming, fun, enjoyable,human movie it was.

Maybe you’re not the next Ebert – or maybe you are (in your own sphere). We could use good critics who know critique. So as much as I want people to Boost The Signal, this could be your path as well – which lets you Boost The Signal, Question The Signal, and Analyze the Signal as well as recommend people just turn the Damn Signal Off.  Just do it right, do it well, and don’t get trapped in the usual spectacle.

Moving Forward By Moving Forward

So, remember, good critique is rare, criticism and complaining are just part of the sideshow in our modern media, and too often a distraction or a co-opting of our time. I think we’re far better served these days in Boosting The Signal on good works, and if possible, being true critics when valuable and able.

In closing, let me tell a personal tale. Nearly a decade ago some friends and I were discussing bad films, and I came up with a film that parodied action movies. The idea was two stars would sabotage a corrupt studio by getting them to make the ultimate failed action move that was only a pile of overdone tropes. However they quickly discovered that it was almost impossible to make a failure if you went over-the-top stupid, that critique only fired morbid curiosity or even morphed into knowing contrarianism. Our heroes would be in terrible danger of succeeding as you could never be truly dumb or bad enough to fail intentionally.

It was a parody.

By now, I’m not sure it is.***

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.musehack.com/, publishes books on career and culture at http://www.informotron.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

 

* Please, don’t do this.

** I hope this isn’t part of the ritual, but I’m willing to be suspicious of myself.

***Hollywood, call me, we can out-cynical each other.