What Season Finales Teach About Series Writing (Part Two: Glee/Once Upon a Time)

Quick Update: Survived Chemistry finals. I think. Erm, if I don't show up tomorrow you know why, how's that?

Song Stuck In My Head: "Through Glass" by Stone Sour. Pandora radio and I have made up.

So, continuing SSF's new series on how those horrible SEASON FINALES could aid as writers...

GLEE teaches us... DON'T FORGET YOUR SUBPLOTS.

Yeah, Glee season numero three came to an end last night, with Rachel Berry alone as she sang her way into New York City (and oddly, had no one look at her those whole entire three-four minutes). But in classic Glee style, there was a lot of bouncing back and forth between characters. While with any other show this would be a horrible thing, with so many characters to juggle, there was a decent amount of closure for each main character.

The really surprising was that a lot of the ties on the subplots weren't exactly closed doors. They were opening new ones. So while it managed to end every subplot, it set up the basis for just as many new ones next year.

This is difficult to do in a series, especially with the more characters you juggle. But the important thing is to remember that while this is the end of this story for your main character, it should be the end of a chapter for your other characters too. Sure Rachel is about to go on and be famous at her arts school, but what about Kurt and Blaine? Or Puck graduating? Or Brittany and Santana? Or Coach's baby? Tie up every bow you started, and make sure you have something new to develop on for the next chapter.

Harry Potter translation: How the epilogue somehow manages to cover every character and moreorless what they've been up to the past 19 years.

ONCE UPON A TIME teaches us... DO GIVE YOUR HERO/HEROINE THE SPOTLIGHT TOO.

For all the talk of subplots and side characters, remember, the end of one chapter is when your character gets the moment. After all, the pathway to the next chapter is all theirs.

In Once Upon a Time, the fairy-tale-themed Lost, our season finale really does give us a lot of Emma, the protagonist. She's the daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming turned private detective who must more or less save the fairy tale people from the curse on them that keeps them trapped in the real world. And after episode and episode of her in denial, not only did Emma come to grips with her destiny but she went heads-on with it.

Heads-on how? Well, let's just say there's a lot of personal revealing. And dragon slaying.

Anyhow, for a lot of the episode, it is just Emma and Emma becoming the hero of the story. Which is all we needed for a season finale, especially with a twist ending that'll cruise us right into season two.

Hunger Games translation: In the end, we do get a lot of one-on-one time with our lovely Katniss and Peeta, until all that's left is the two of them, our two main characters. And Katniss herself has a lot of alone time and self-discovery moments in the end of each book.

Well, that's all for today. Time to go see Phillip Phillips win American Idol.

(That's right. I'll bet money if I must.)

Later.

What Season Finales Teach About Series Writing (Part One: Secret Circle/New Girl)

Quick Update: Read my update/apology here. Other than that, about to do finals for chemistry tomorrow. Scared would be an understatement.

Song Stuck In My Head: "You Know You're Right" by Nirvana. Been listening to this like crazy for no reason whatsoever.

Ah, it's that time of year when you just want to punch your fist through your TV. Yep: it's season finales time.

However, as writers, there's actually much to learn in all those twists, surprises, tears, unhappy endings, and overall #WTF moments in those TV show season finales especially if you are a series/trilogy/something-gy writer. I'm exploring some random TV show finales and the golden nuggets of knowledge they teach us. I'm also giving Harry Potter and Hunger Games examples, both very relatable and well-known series.

SECRET CIRCLE teaches us... DON'T JUST REPLACE VILLAIN #1 WITH VILLAIN #2

So the Secret Circle was once The CW's attempt to cap on the success of Vampire Diaries by adapting another L.J Smith fave, but it hasn't been too half-bad as of late. In fact (won't get into too much show vocabulary in case you haven't seen it) after two of the witches in the "circle" of six teenage witches learn their father happens to be part of a "super race" of witches, he decides to kill off the weaker witches (say, like the rest of the circle) with a curse so it's just the (moreorless) super witches like the three of them. They stop him just in time, thus killing the guy who was both evil out of his mind and way too connected to them.

But already, a new maybe-villain has been incorporated. Not thrown in: incorporated. The other "super" witches persay are already headed for them. After all, they are all connected...they just want to get to know the two witches in the circle, and recruit them. They're teenagers who all ditched their own circles to be together with their own kind. Whether or not they'll be friend of foe...that is the question.

The Secret Circle ends perfectly, with a shot of the incoming super-witches arriving in town, no faces shown. They're clearly there to collect the two new witches, unaware that the two won't be so willing to abandon their circle. There won't be a new villain just randomly introduced, they have a connection to the past villain (other than petty revenge).

Hunger Games Translation: The new villains in Catching Fire and Mockingjay are the Capitol, before just puppeteers in the first book/but now full-fledged, fighting bad guys.

NEW GIRL teaches us... DO HINT AT NEW RELATIONSHIPS ABOUT TO FORM

Fox's hit adorkable show reached a new levels of adult and young, 20-something relationships with its finale. While there have been hints at goofy Jess and cynical Nick's possible chemistry before, despite being roommates, there have also been just as many times when that possibility had been crushed. Like when the two almost get in a threesome with their landlord. Or when the two got involved with new girls/beaus and then their exes (at the same time).

But then the writers decided to have an actual path set out. After having odd closure with her ex, the lovely Justin Long,  Jess is almost thrown off by the fact that Nick hasn't done the same with his ex. When the two decide to move in together, thus taking Nick away from the apartment, she's thrown even farther off. While Jess never really comes out and says it, or talks to anybody it, it's clear that she does NOT want Nick to leave or leave with his ex. And very subtlety, we get hints of a "Ness" in the future.

At the end, Nick does break it off with his ex and move back in the apartment. He had a few reasons to, and maybe even one of that is Jess...but not that he comes right out and says it. The most we get is Jess and him smiling at each other, and him being welcomed back. No her running into his arms. No him saying "she wasn't the one I wanted. You were." Just a very subtle, gentle shove in the "Ness" direction.

There a lot of ways to do this. As for a Harry Potter translation, think in Order of the Phoenix, when Ron jokes that if Harry and Ginny would be a better couple to him than Ginny and Dean. And what happens in the next book? Oh, wait...HARRY AND GINNY DATE! WHATTT!?

Be subtle. That's all.

That's all for today. This is (hopefully) a series post, so (hopefully) I will be back to bother you guys tomorrow.

Later!

Return of the SSF (And LOlcatz apology)

Guess who's back? Back again? Some Screaming Fangirl's back! TELL A FRIEND!

Yeah, so SSF has moreorless vanished from the web these past...three weeks? My excuses (ahem): number one, blogging break. Didn't think I'd need one after A-Z, but there you go. Two, SCHOOL. I know, I know, I'm a high school junior, what the heck do I know? But combine school work with managing journalism projects and anxiety and stalking school crush and summer weather and lack of sleep and you get one VERY braindead teenager. Three, every library closes early around beginning of summer. It's ridiculous.

No more excuses now. Let us blog, blog like we've never blogged before!

Oh wait. I need to my necessary apologize-via-Lolcatz.

Here you go!

 And possibly earning the award for most friggin' adorable...

Z for...Zombies, Okay?

Quick Update: Almost there. Last A-Z post, here we go!

Song Stuck In My Head: "No More" by Three Days Grace. Actually, every song by Three Days Grace I'd always thought of this band as my protagonist's theme band, and actually did pretty well with the WIP this weekend, so maybe a Three Days Grace marathon every week now?

As you all know, Zombies are amazing creatures. Right in there between vampires, element dragons, and phoenixes. While this is not the first time I’ve covered the pure awesomeness of fictional monsters, I decided for “Z” day, to revisit zombies.

In the midst of the OoohVampire-OoohLookWerewolf-OoohNowI’mAnAngel-NowLOVEme craze (which is still going on, thanks Johnny Depp & Dark Shadows) zombies did get lost. After all, they aren’t rational or romantic. No, typically they’re all Monster. Whether they’re weak creatures in video games or movie critters with blood dripping from their mouths, zombies are the most badass of them all. No logic. No emotion.

To celebrate their badassery, in fact, let’s have another…PICTURE DAY! (claps and screams from make-believe audience). Yep, random zombie pictures. Not scary ones of course. They're pretty low-key. Now: Let’s go.

 
 

Well…did we do it? Did we finish A-Z blogging? Did we finish strong?

To all my new and old followers I say thank you for riding this out with me and…

Later!

Flesh Out Your YA Characters

Quick Update:  Have no way to obtain the next two books in the series I've been re-reading. This makes me sad. But hey, second to last A-Z post! And technically post #101 (even though Blogger counts published and unpublished posts, so maybe that doesn't count).

Song Stuck In My Head: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day as covered by Vitamin String Quarter. That's right, an orchestra song.

On SSF, we try to merge the world of pop culture and YA writing into one. As always, music is one of the more enjoyable ways to go about doing this. And while this isn’t the first time I’ve created a playlist for YA writing, this is the first to help with characterization. We do see a variety of “types” in YA, after all. We also see characters that don't have a type, and are pretty awesome...except they're missing, well, something.

Need more darkness to your character? You don’t need to make a character Goth or wear a spiked collar to make them a little shadowy inside. If your character is a little shallow or light-minded, and shouldn’t be, then try THE INDECENT. They’re an up-and-coming band from New York with a pure grunge sound. Listen to the girl singer for one second, and you’ll feel and understand teen angst, hurt, pain. But it won’t come off as over-the-top or corny.

Choice songs: “25 Steps”, “Her Screwed Up Songs”, “Lucky Ones”

Also check out… White Lie’s “Death”, Green Day’s “Brain Stew/Jaded”, Halestorm’s “Familiar Taste of Poison”, Sound garden’s “Black Hole Sun”.

Need more oddness to your character? You’re not asking to have a character so quirky Zooey Deschanel will be envious. You just need something unique or off-the-wall about your character that’ll make him/her more real or memorable. FOSTER THE PEOPLE will always be your best bet. Their mix of dark/thoughtful lyrics and poppy/catchy music makes them very odd indeed.

Choice songs: “Pumped Up Kicks”, “Call It What You Want”, “Don’t Stop”

Also check out…Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta”, Liz Phair’s “Extraordinary”, Weezer’s “Pork & Beans”, Silverchair’s “Freak”.

Need more sentimentality to your character? Maybe he’s a tough guy or girl who needs some redeeming qualities or emotions. Look no further than THREE DAYS GRACE. Though they may sound hard rock and look dark, Three Days Grace is one of the most emotionally charged bands out there today. Adam Gontier, the lead singer, manages to sound vulnerable and tough. They're my go-to band for my own WIP.

Choice songs: “Never Too Late”, “Running Away”, “Home”. Also check out Adam’s solo cover of “Wicked Game”.

Also check out… P!nk’s “Sober”, Stone Temple Pilot’s “Sour Girl”, Paramore’s “Brick By Boring Brick”, Katy Perry’s “Lost”.

Need more badassery to your character? Maybe they’re a weakling and need a stronger shell. Maybe you need more of fighter. You need music with spunk and the nerve to punch back, to spit in your face. There’s going to be no one better than JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS for that. Joan Jett may be a little old-school, but there is nothing but timeless about her unapologetic, throaty, slack-jawed rock ‘tude. And that’s what you need with a badass character. Someone who won’t say sorry or take names. They just go with the flow.

Choice songs: “Bad Reputation”, “I Want You”, “Activity Grrrl”. Her version of "Cherry Bomb" is pretty snarky too.

Also check out…Alanis Morisette’s “You Oughta Know”, Foo Fighter’s “The Pretender”, Hole’s “Violet”, Korn’s “Counting On Me”.

Need more morals/dreams & hopes to your character? What, your character does have aspirations and goals and motivation, right? No? Well, if you need to inject some Little Person with Big Dreams into your story, why not try out American Idol numero uno, Kelly Clarkson? She was the first to go from Nobody to Superstar, and has the songs and story to prove it.

Choice songs: “Breakaway”, “How I Feel”, “Miss Independent” (okay, so in that last one her dreams get overshadowed with love, but hey, CONFLICT! Booyah).

Also check out…Stacie Orrico’s “There’s Gotta Be More (to Life)”, Shinedown’s “Second Chance”, KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See”, My Chemical Romance’s “Bulletproof Heart”.

Just need more depth to your character? If it’s just that they’re not complex enough or don’t have enough secrets, then you need some complex music. Music that has a lot of history, grudges, memories, and hurt in it. This time, we’ll go back to the 90’s, to the beloved NIRVANA. We don’t all understand what Kurt Cobain was singing about. Heck, we’re not even sure how he died thanks to conspiracy theorists. But we do know there was a lot of emotions going through his head, thanks to the complicated and mixed sound of Nirvana’s songs.



Choice Songs: “In Bloom”, “All Apologies”, “Something In the Way”. His last song, "You Know You're Right", is a little layered too.

Also check out…Airborne Toxic Event’s “Sometime Around Midnight”, No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, Hellyeah’s “You Wouldn’t Know”, Lady Gaga’s “Speechless”, the Killer's "Mr. Brightside".

Well…what about you? Do you have any go-to songs for characters? Is there a character type you have trouble with? Tell us. And I’ll see you soon for the LAST POST OF THE A-Z BLOGGING CHALLENGE AH! We made it here together! I have so many people to thank...

Later!

Queen Extravaganza

Quick Update: Really catching up now. Hey, so remember "Q?"

Song Stuck In My Head: “Black Shoes” by the Films. It’s Sims 2, but is amazing.

So about a week ago, I was out of mind with frustration and insomnia (okay, still am, but not the point) and declared no “Q” post because there was absolutely nothing I can think of that started with Q but was cool.
Well, A-Z blogging is almost up, so I surrender. And thankfully, last week's results show of American Idol introduced to me the QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA.

Who are they? Apparently the two remaining members of the original Queen had searched for the ultimate Queen cover band, one that captured the essence and spirit and most of all talent of the band, and most of all, a band to tour with. Queen Extravaganza's winners seems to fit the description a little too perfectly. They put together a group of performers that somehow, together, do Queen justice in so many ways. Let me tell you why this is probably the first cover band that is worth the money.

The Singer: A broad, strong-looking man who goes from the piano to his feet, Marc Martel (who got to perform his audion on Ellen) has the dramatic voice of Freddy Mercury. He also has the gift of vulnerability and charisma. But his voice! It sounds so realistic; we could have Mercury's ghost here.

The Guitarist: A long-haired, young thing, their guitarist Tristan Avakian started out unimpressive and forgettable. Then he started playing his own little solos, playing guitar behind his back, and making snide/snarky faces. Oh yeah. We got a rebel here. The other guitarist, Brian Gresh, isn't too bad either.

The Bassist: Francois-Olivier Doyon, who did a backflip. While playing. All I need to say.

The Drummer: Okay, I don't remember their drummer, Tyler Warren, but only because around the end of the performance, Queen's own guitarist and drummer burst on stage and joined them. Cool, right?

While the performance might not have been picture-perfect (there was a lot of flashy lights. And back-up singers) seeing the Queen Extravaganza tribute band perform was a very fresh moment on the results show, where we get to see an actual band release its inner queen, inner monster, was what made it all worth it. This is truly a band to check out, despite them being a cover band.

Don't believe me? Listen for yourself. Then go to the Queen Extravaganza's website here and learn more about them, about the contest, and even their tour dates! Woot!




Later!

The Modern Xylophone (and Other Instruments)

Quick Update: Fourth ever band concert last Saturday. My strings class is still all horribly out of tune. We rocked. Oh, and X for Xylophone...

Song Stuck In My Head: "Colors of the Wind", the Pochohantas song. That, and Aretha Franklin. Don't ask.

Thanks to the recent success of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" (which I've blogged how many times now? Okay, sorry) I've been thinking a lot about the xylophone. In my head it's always been a part of my childhood. That little kid instrument that made tingling noises, had colorful keys, was delicate, and extremely easy to play. Yet sometimes, all it takes is some proper usage, and you get a song like Gotye's.

Love Gotye. Love him so much.

Not that Gotye is the first to ever feature the xylophone - also known as the Glockenspiel. I mean, have you ever heard a Frank Zappa song? Anyhow, since today is our "X" post...let's talk about all the other not as recognized instruments out there.

Harmonica. The bluesy mouth organ with 'tude and emotion. Obviously Bob Dylan's song featured some of the best harmonica moments. There's some more modern or well-known ones that have harmonica too.Black Rebel Motorcyle Club's "Complicated Situation". Or maybe Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" (love that song). Green Day's "Minority". or Black Sabbath's "The Wizard". It's more present than we think.

Harp. Maybe a strumming harp makes you think of pretty angels. But the gentle, delicate instrument happens to be HUGE and very noticeable. Florence + the Machine, everyone's favorite loud girl, has the harp here and there. I think the best use of it is in Depeche Mode's "Halo" remix, which adds a haunting and not sweet tone to it. There's also many beautifully done harp covers out there on Youtube (how they could afford a harp, who knows. They're lucky is all I know).



Kazoo. After seeing an acoustic performance with one, I realized that kazoos aren't just the instruments that sound suspiciously like ducks. You can hear them in Eric Clapton songs (San Francisco Bay) or Rolling Stones songs (Cool, Calm, and Collected). And yes, even the aforementioned Frank Zappa has some kazoo here and there. (Hungry Freaks). Or even Weird Al Yancovich's cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit (well, okay, not cover).

There's tons of instruments out there. Bagpipes. Or recorders. Sometimes, even non-instruments can do a lot in a song. Glasses and spoons. Jingling of keys. Everything and anything.

What are some of your favorite instruments out there? The atypical instruments?

Later. Actually, no soon. Three posts in one day again - last day of A-Z after all!