Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

This next sentence is probably more enjoyable to you, the reader, if you imagine it spoken the way I do; that is, as if I were in a drunken stupor of some sort.

I have a lot of things to say about On Stranger Tides.

Okay, don't read the rest of this review in that same voice; I am catagorically sober for this review (and for the movie).  Since there be spoilers in these waters, I will hide them from the main page behind a handy little page break.  Maybe read some of the review in a pirate voice.

Star Wars: Death Star Review

So I finished Star Wars: Death Star last weekend.  The book was okay - it had its moments, but ultimately feels like a novelty item, so to speak.  The characters were fun enough, but not exactly what I'd hoped.  And the writing wasn't the greatest - there was a lot of repetition going on, mostly to reinforce themes and ideas, but it came across to me more as, "Okay, I know what you're saying - you've said it five times now, maybe you could move the story along?"

It was things like the Death Star gunner questioning his morals before/after pulling the trigger on Alderaan.  It seemed like I was reading the same passage several different times across five different chapters.  I don't want to give it away, but if you read it, you'll know what I mean.

Anyway, I was entertained, but slightly disappointed; my expectations going in was that this was a book comprised of short stories.  That's not what I got, but I only feel half-cheated.

It's a fun enough read, so I'm not going to say "don't read it"; instead, I'll just say that if you don't read it, you're not missing out on anything important.

What's the point?

I've been doing some more thinking about my creative processes; this has all been spurned on by my attempts to come up with a submission to Machine of Death Volume 2.  Basically, at what point do you stop kidding yourself and stop trying to be a creative fiction writer?

I have the work ethic to maintain a decent blog, and occasional guest posts on another, but that seems to be the extent of the writing that comes relatively effortlessly.  I am usually pleased with the outcome of my "articles", but often I find myself questioning my writing when it comes to fiction.  I know this is "normal", but I find it hard to come up with original ideas and actually see them through to the end.

So, do I tell myself, "stick to what you can actually do" and stop trying to write fiction?  No, I don't think so.  I'm stubborn.  What I SHOULD do is go back to the basics.  Stop trying to write anything complicated and just write.  You know, this post is actually sounding a lot like one I just wrote a few weeks ago.

But sometimes I need to express these thoughts over and over so that they sink in.  I still plan on putting together a submission for Machine of Death 2, but it's going to be something simple and manageable.  I will be disappointed if it doesn't make the cut for published stories (there are already AT LEAST 30 submissions after all), but I will nevertheless hope for the best.

Wish me luck!  Oh, and if you're a writer reading this: submit something to MOD2.  I'm really looking forward to what everyone comes up with for round 2.