Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
Following on my previous writing on legitimate remakes, I want to share an odd suggestion with our readership who are current or future writers of fiction. It’s a bit of a strange one, so let me get to the thesis.
What if we updated fiction sort like we do software?
Back when I was writing on nostalgia, Jason Sacks had commented that we should be aware remakes provide constraints and constraints can be virtuous creatively.
That idea got me to stop in my mental tracks and think this over. Now I’m not fundamentally opposed to remakes, but I’m getting a bit tired of seeing them so often. But his comment made me think that, yes constraints are valuable and indeed I’ve been a bit (only a bit) unfair to remakes in our modern culture. Certainly there are ones I like, agree are good, or want to see.
So I think it’s time that I, geek job guru, culture commentator, and creative guy, give some thought to when I think remakes are legitimate and even good. It may give you some food for thought, inspire you, or make you think “He’s full of it” and ignore me – but at least you’ll ignore me for a reason.
So without further ado, Steve’s List Of When Remakes Are A Good Idea.
Big shout out for you progeeks here – I want to point you at The Company Bard, a blog on using gaming techniques in work and vice versa. This isn’t pop psychology, this is from a real gamer who really thinks about these things. I had the pleasure to talk with Stephen, the gentleman who runs it, and it’s something to pay attention to.
Plus anyone that comes up with the idea of “Workification” and ask what the parallel to simulations are has my attention.
Check it out!
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/.