My 10 Most Popular Posts

The number of hits I get on a post on my blog can vary quite a lot. Of course I like it when I get a large number of hits. What is it about my popular posts that makes them so popular?

In addition to my own blog, I post on Blogger and FaceBook. The popularity of my posts are quite different on each of these sites. I picked the top 10 based on my own site, and will mention some popular posts on the other sites.

10. Return to Blogging

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/return-to-blogging/

In this post I talked about restarting my blog. I had stopped because I had to help take care of my wife while she was sick. As such, this was a more personal post than I usually write. It was also the most popular post, by far, on FaceBook.

A closely related post: My Own Conflicts http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-own-conflicts/ was the second most popular on FaceBook.

I don't feel comfortable writing posts that are too personal, but it is also clear that those kinds of posts are usually more popular.

9. I Finally Brought A Long Held Dream to Fruition

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/i-finally-brought-a-long-held-dream-to-fruition/

This is my post to promote my Doc Savage novella: "The 89th Key". http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/

The release of a major piece of work does attract more attention that a progress update. Of course, I need to have something to release in order to do a post like this.

8. New Ideas for Transportation Planning Stories

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/new-ideas-for-transportation-planning-stories/

I've worked on several projects that have transportation planning as a background. While my movie "The Barrier" is still at version 0.6, I wanted to start on a new project. I am glad to see that the topic does still attract some interest. As it was, I got side tracked onto other projects. Maybe I can get back to this next year.

7. The Lester Dent Master Fiction Plot Test Drive

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-lester-dent-master-fiction-plot-test-drive/

I first posted this in December of 2010, so despite being an old post, it still draws new visitors.

Lester Dent was a prolific pulp writer back in the 1930s and 1940s and is best known for writing most of the Doc Savage stories. I came across an article he wrote about what he called his master fiction plot. It is a formula for a action adventure pulp story. I found that it helped me improve my writing.

I've experimented with variations of the formula; mostly by trying to adapt it to other types of stories. Some people denigrate "formula writing", but I find it a valuable tool. Certainly at some stages of writing, it can really get things going. I find that when I don't follow this structure, it becomes very difficult to write.

The popularity of this post reflects the interest that writers have in tools they can use for writing. In the original post I included a link to the article, but the link went dead, so I added a copy of the article to the end of the post, so that it is available to people who find my post.

6. My New Website Theme: As The Goals Change

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-new-website-theme-as-the-goals-change/

Late last year I started to develop a new WordPress theme for my website. I'm not sure why it should be so popular. In the end I abandoned my new theme and picked one of the free themes that are available. I did make a few modifications, and would like to make some more, but this is a low priority for me.

5. "2001: A Space Odyssey"  and H. P. Lovecraft

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/2001-a-space-odyssey-and-h-p-lovecraft/

2001 was and is my favourite movie. I've also had an interest in H.P. Lovecraft. One day I was struck by the idea that there was a connection between the two, so I wrote up my thoughts on it.

I posted this back in April of 2014, so this is another old post that keeps drawing in readers.

4. My Film Equipment Repair Adventure

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/my-film-equipment-repair-adventure/

I have an old Sankyo Dualux 1000 super 8/ regular 8 projector that belonged to my parents. Unfortunately, the drive belt wore out and broke. I tried to find a replacement belt, but they are expensive. I experimented with using an O-ring and a rubber band.

It seems that a lot of other people have the same projector, and the same problem with the drive belt. I posted this in February 2012 and still get hits on this page frequently.

2. and 3. Experiments With the Trial Version of nawmalMAKE and The New Nawmal: Good News for "The Barrier"

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/experiments-with-the-trial-version-of-nawmalmake/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-new-nawmal-good-news-for-the-barrier/

I wrote these two posts about NawmalMake. It is a rerelease of the old Xtranormal program that I used to make "The Barrier" and "Make ’ em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way".

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/make-em-squirm-the-sharkbiter-way/

I was quite glad to see it rereleased, so I could do a final version of "The Barrier". Unfortunately, the timing isn't good for me, so I haven't been able to take advantage of the new release. I did some tests though.

The one big worry I have is that the new company will not be able to make a go of it and the program will no longer be available when I have time to use it. The fact that these two posts are attracting a lot of hits even months after it was posted tells me that there is some interest in the program. This is a positive sign for the future of the program.

1. Conversational Films: A Small Genre

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/conversational-stories/conversational-films-a-small-genre/

One of my favourite films is Linklater's "Before Sunrise". I've had the urge to make something similar. In this post I look at similar movies that would call conversational films. I only identified a few, but I suspect there are some more I am unaware of.

I'm not sure why this post should be so popular. Even though it was posted back in March 2012, it was still my most popular post this year. Maybe there is a desire out there for similar movies.

I wrote my story "The Crying Woman" as the basis for a movie like this, but I haven't followed up on it yet. http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-crying-woman/

Honourable Mention: Do Ancient Alien Probes Watch Earth?

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/do-ancient-alien-probes-watch-earth/

While this post did not attract much attention on my site or FaceBook, it was very popular on Blogger. No one made any comments, but I think that may be a good thing. Many of the people who would be interested would be interested in the conspiracy theory aspects of the idea, and would not be very positively disposed to my more sceptical approach to the idea.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Hal and The Starchild in 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey has fascinated me since I first saw it back in 1968. I didn't understand it and I've tried to gain a better understanding ever since. There were times when I thought I understood it, then later realized that there was more to the film than I had thought.

I want to explore one aspect of the film in this post. It is an idea that has floated about in my head for many years and I really don't know if I read it somewhere, or came up with it on my own.

The thrust of the story is the evolution of man from ape-man to starchild. I would expect that with Kubrick and Clarke would have everything in the movie relate to that in some way.

What bothered me about the sequence on the Discovery that involves the astronauts and HAL is that it doesn't seem to relate. It felt to me as if it were merely a bit of story action to take up time.

There does seem to be an explanation that links HAL's story to the larger story. At the end of the film the aliens/monolith appears to transform Bowman into something new: the starchild.

This is paralleled in the HAL story where Bowman disconnects HAL. HAL reverts to a child like state. HAL's last words are "I'm ready for my first lesson." Like the aliens with human, humans have created HAL's intelligence. In the end they realize that this intelligence has its dangers, so Bowman must reset HAL. Humanity has failed in its attempt to create intelligence.

This brings up the question of exactly what happens to Bowman at the end. Do the aliens, as I originally thought, elevate Bowman, and therefore Humanity, to the next level? Or, do they, like Bowman, realize that they have failed to create the intelligence they wanted? Are they then, as with HAL, reset Bowman to a new starting point.

The parallels between HAL and Bowman/Starchild suggests a different interpretation of the ending. It is not that Bowman has moved on to a new higher level, but rather that he has been sent back to start over again. At the end of the Dawn of Man story in the book, it says of Moonwatcher: "He would think of something." At the end of the book the same words are used in reference to the starchild. This sounds to me as more of a reset than a elevation.

I think the question about what happens at the end brings a focus on the ability of the aliens. Are they so advanced that they make no mistakes? If so, then they would elevate Bowman to the next level. If they can make mistakes, then what happens to Bowman is a reset. The aliens are so advanced beyond our level of understanding, that we humans are unlikely to be able to tell the difference. Punishment and reward are indistinguishable to us.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

It's Time To Pick My Next Project

Now that my story "Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" is done, it is time to think about my next project. What with Christmas coming up and snow on the ground, I might not get started until the new year.

I completed four projects this year:

·         "Summer's Too Short" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/summers-too-short/

·         "The 89th Key" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/

·         "Pete's Plan" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/petes-plan/

·         "Tom Swiftly ..." http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/tom-swiftly-and-his-incredible-traffic-model/

All of these were projects that I stated long before this year. In the case of "The 89th Key" it was some 43 years before! I did start on one project, "The Disruptors", but didn't get far with it. So I haven't really started a new project for quite some time. I concentrated my efforts on some of my unfinished projects.

Movies

I have almost 40 unfinished movie projects. Most of these are little more than a few notes about the idea, but I have four feature length scripts and one detailed outline. There are also a couple of my short stories that I think could be done as movies. I've decided to treat most of these as writing exercises. When I read them over I feel no urge to finish them.

There are a few exceptions.

I think that I'd like to do something with "Bright Freedom", and earlier I decided to turn it into a novella. I worked on it for a short time this year, but dropped it for other projects. (http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/category/film-projects/bright-freedom/)

"The Crying Woman" could make a good movie. At this point though I'm not sure where to go with it. I would like to do a new movie with Nawmal and I think this might work. On the other hand, it might be better if I worked with live actors and have them improvise. (http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-crying-woman/)

"The Barrier" is not really finished. I called the most recent version release 0.6. There are a few changes I'd like to make to the dialogue and story, but the main think I want to do is replace the artificial voices with actor's voices. (http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/)

These two movies are major projects and in my current situation, I really don't have the ability to take them on. I haven't had any ideas for shorter projects, which would be a more realistic goal. I would have to come up with some ideas first.

Stories

I have about 25 unfinished story projects. As with my movie ideas, most of these no longer inspire me to complete them. There are bits and pieces of them that I think are good, but a story isn't just a few bits and pieces tossed together. Maybe I can cannibalize some of this material in other projects.

I enjoyed writing my novella "The 89th Key" this year, and would like to do something similar. This lead to my idea for "The Disruptors". Before I can write that I really need to do some more research and develop the background and characters. I found that my familiarity with the background and characters in "The 89th Key" made it much easier to write.

I have drafts of both my "Bright Freedom" script conversion and my SF story "Felix".  I would like to have those finished. I have tried rewrites on both of these, but I got stuck on both. I've started to wonder if I should just abandon what I've done so far and restart from scratch on them.

I've wanted to do another transportation planning story, like "The Barrier", but I haven't come up with anything so far. I think that part of my problem is that I've tried to do a new story with the same characters as I had in "The Barrier". It maybe that I just feel like I've already told their story and there isn't really anything more I want to say about them. If I came up with some new characters that could get me started.

Video Presentation

There is another project I want to take on. I have been involved for many years with The Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. (http://www.calgaryssea.ca/) They put on a series of talks on Ancient Egypt. I've felt I should contribute, but I am just not up to giving a learned talk. I do think I could put together a video instead.

My first idea  was to do a video about King Tut. After all, nobody has ever done much about him. ;) I did some preliminary research to see if I could come up with a story and some visual material I could use. My interest petered out and I dropped the idea.

I thought I should do something about how the pyramids were built. That would fit into my background in civil engineering. Again, after some preliminary research, I lost interest in the idea.

My current idea is to do something about Agatha Christie in Egypt. She visited Egypt and the middle east several times and these visits were an important part of her life. Three of her books are set in Egypt. I did a little research and found some material. I haven't delved into it yet, so I'm not sure that I can turn it into an interesting video.

I've never done a documentary, and never really had a desire to do so. Strangely enough I usually prefer documentary movies to fictional ones. That said, I think this would be a good project for me to pursue.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

"Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" Posted

My new story "Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" is now on-line for people to read. CAUTION: Story contains bad puns. Proceed at your own risk.

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/tom-swiftly-and-his-incredible-traffic-model/

"Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" is a sample of transportation planning humour. Puns and Tom Swiftlies count as humour don't they?

The story tells the tale of a transportation planner and his team as they struggle to convince the city council to accept their proposal.

The original idea actually came to me almost 20 years ago. I tried and abandoned several different approaches before I found the right one. I worked on that approach off and on for six years. Finally, in October this year, I decided to give it one big push and get it done. I feel it is now ready for release into the wild.

Let me know if you think I over did the puns a bit.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Five Random Thoughts on a November Afternoon

There wasn't much to report on my current project, "Tom Swiftly", so I decided to contemplate a few more ideas I've bounced around recently.

Lincoln Quotes

While Abraham Lincoln did contribute more than his share of important quotes to posterity, many quotes you see attributed to him on the Internet are simply made up. Often that is done with the intent of adding credibility to a questionable idea.

When I first noticed this tendency, I thought that the primary reason for misquotes was that people would remember a quote from someone is the 1800s, but forget who said it. Since Lincoln was someone they did remember, they would give him the credit. I thought of that as "The Lincoln effect" and I wondered if it was common with other famous people.

At one time I thought of using a made up Lincoln quote to promote my work. Something like: "James Morison is one of the most creative people on the Internet and you should support him with a donation." I felt a bit guilty about making such a bold statement, so I decided to add in a qualifier: "Lincoln really did say this, albeit the words were not in the same order and he didn't say them all at the same time." I know that Internet  is a bit of stretch, but I'm sure he used both "inter" and "net".

Thoughtless Tank

About six years ago I came across a number of small think tanks in the course of my work. In reality they were one person operations. I wouldn't really consider a one person organization a think tank, but it made me wonder if I could set up my own think tank.

I never did, but the idea I developed was to create a "Thoughtless Tank". It would be a satire of some of the low value think tanks that vie for our attention. I think there is a lot of very superficial work done by some of these think tanks. I never developed the concept any further than that. Maybe if I had come up with a good name for it, I would have moved forward.

I want peace, justice and prosperity for everyone in the world, but can't find them anywhere on Amazon

I really mean this. If you can find them on Amazon, please let me know. I just hope they are cheap enough for my budget.

The secret cabal running the world isn't doing a very good job. Maybe it is time that they step aside and let another secret cabal try.

Many conspiracy theories posit the existence of a secret group that runs the World's affairs. What struck me about this theory is that if there is a secret group is running things, they don't seem to be doing a very good job. Even if you assume they are totally in it for their own aggrandizement, they don't seem to be doing that well for themselves.

Some people assume that the secret cabal is evil. I think Hanlon's razor is a better explanation: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

If this secret cabal does exist, it should seriously consider turning things over to another secret cabal who can do a better job.

If aliens visited earth in ancient times, where are they now?

This is one of the things I've thought about the ancient astronaut theory. While it is a plausible hypothesis that alien beings visited Earth in the past, I haven't heard of anything that doesn't have a more plausible explanation. Namely, people in ancient times were just as smart as we are now.

I know some people will say that they are still here, but hiding. I suppose that is possible, but if that were the case, then why were they so open in ancient times?

Maybe this idea could be the basis for a story. These are some of the questions we could ask when we develop such a story:

-       Did they leave?

-       Why did they leave?

-       Where did they go?

-       When did they go?

-       How long did they stay?

-       Did they die out?

-       What killed them?

-       How long were they here?

-       Did they hide?

-       Where did they hide?

-       Why did they hide?

-       Why did they come here in the first place?

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

"Tom Swiftly" and Puns: The Bad and the Lame

I completed the second draft of "Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model". It is an improvement, but there is a problem I haven't decided how to deal with yet.

I'm not sure if Tom Swiftlys are considered puns or not, but I would lump the two together. They are both words at play. As it stands, most lines of the story are either a Tom Swiftly or a pun. Maybe that is a bit of over kill.

The problem I have is that in order to have the story follow a plot, I needed to create some new Tom Swiftlys. I was fortunate in that I was able to find a fair number of pre-existing Tom Swiftlys I could repurpose. However, many of the ones I created were not of the same quality.

Now, bad Tom Swiftlys and bad puns are often what you want. They both provoke the groans that the punster desires. While some of my Tom Swiftlys are bad, many might be better described as lame. I fear that they cannot elicit the groan I aim for. I don't want readers to think "that's awful" and really mean it.

The dilemma for me is what I do about them.

·         I could simply remove the Tom Swiftly and leave the sentence as a straight line to move the story forward. My goal with this story was be to have every sentence be a Tom Swiftly or a pun. I am reluctant to lose too many Tom Swiftlys, even if they are lame.

·         I could just leave them as they are, publish and hope that the readers will accept the occasional clunker. While this keeps up my Tom Swiftly count, I worry that too many clunkers will disappoint readers and drive them away.

·         I could take my time to develop bad Tom Swiftlys to replace the lame ones. When I did the second draft, I was able to eliminate replace some of the lame Tom Swiftlys with bad Tom Swiftlys. This would be the best option,  but would may take a long time and many rewrites before I can publish.

I am not sure how reliable my judgement is when I decide if a Tom Swiftly is bad or lame. Maybe the ones I worry about will work, and the ones I think are bad are really lame.

What I lean toward now is to publish and have readers tell me which are bad and which are lame. Since it is all on-line, I can always do a release 1.1 or 1.2 to address the lameness problem.

I should end this post with a bad Tom Swiftly, but I wasn't able to come up with one.

Note: I wasn't sure the proper way to pluralize Tom Swiftly. In the end I decided to use Tom Swiftlys rather than Tom Swiftlies. Maybe someone who knows for sure can give me some advice.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

5 Unrelated Thoughts Masquerading as an Article

Like most people who think of themselves as creative, I write notes about the ideas I have. I pulled together a few of these ideas to discuss.

My ideas list isn't well organized and I am always surprised by what I find written on the backs of envelopes. Some times it is hard to tell if it was my own idea, or something I read and forgot to attribute when I wrote it down. I usually do that, but I sometimes forget.

I wonder what other people think about these ideas.

Where Do You See Yourself in 3 Millennia?

This is a very recent idea. I'm not sure exactly how it came about, but I think it was the juxtaposition of something I saw about job interviews with something I saw about ancient history.

The line suggests to me the title of a Science Fiction story. A common theme of SF is the idea of life extension. Will we be able to live for hundreds or thousands of years. What would that life be like?

Many people find it a struggle to imagine where they would see themselves in 10 or 20 years. Some people can't imagine where they want to be this afternoon. How can people imagine what they want to be in a thousand or three thousand years.

Clue Deficit Syndrome (CDS)

I thought this was a nicer way to say some one was clueless. While I occasionally feel this way about some people, I think it really isn't a good thing to do. All of us, at one time or another, think we understand things better than we actually do.

Fact Resistant Decision Making

This is similar to CDS, but I think it is a more valid criticism, since it involves a conscience effort to reject valid information. Many times in my life I have been very angry with people who are too quick to dismiss relevant information, or even avoid possible exposure to anything that might conflict with the decision they want to make.

I've fallen into this kind of behaviour more than once. Every time I did, I ended up regretting the decision. Often your emotions are in conflict with your intellectual side. While some people say "go with your heart", when you reject your own analysis, you may find yourself further from achieving what your heart desires.

I think this might be an idea I picked up somewhere else, but I think the wording is my own.

Happy "Excuse To Be Nice" Day

This is a more positive thought than the two above. When I went through a difficult period in my life I made a vow to find an excuse to be happy every day, even if it were for only a few seconds. That was a big help to me.

Later I ruminated on how people will wish people a happy birthday. Why, I thought, don't we do that every day. No one really needs an excuse to be nice, but maybe if there were an "Excuse To Be Nice" Day, more people would be nice.

I think we can pretend that every day is "Excuse To Be Nice" Day.

Confidence in Uncertainty

A couple of the classes I took for my master's degree focussed on operational research. The title of a chapter in one of the text books was something like "Decision Making Under Uncertainty". Throughout my engineering career I found that the biggest technical obstacle was always uncertainty.

For most people, uncertainty is something that undermines confidence. As my thoughts matured I began to feel that I should try to see uncertainty was something that would give confidence.

It may not be a very realistic goal, but the fact is, you need to make decisions when you don't know everything that could affect your decision. This uncertainty can cause you to hesitate to decide, or even never decide.

The best approach I was able to come up with was to make your decisions with the clear understanding that they could be wrong. Then, you watch how the world unfolds. In time, it will often become obvious if you made the right decision. If you make the wrong decision, you may be able to change your decision, or mitigate the effects of the wrong decision.

I found many people were very uncomfortable with this view of reality.

When I started to write this blog post, I believed that these ideas were all unrelated to each other. After I reread what I wrote, I think they may have more in common that I thought.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

First Draft of "Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" Done

I surprised myself this week. I actually finished the first draft of "Tom Swiftly and His Incredible Traffic Model" just like I said I would.

It came in at just a bit over 2,000 words. That makes it one of my non-formulaic short stories. That could change after a few more drafts.

Most lines are either  a Tom Swiftly or a pun. I want to have another go at the non-pun lines and see if I can bring them into line. Some of the puns and Tom Swiftlies are pretty bad, so I want to see if I can come up with improvements there.

I don't normally make much use of a thesaurus in my writing, but this time I used it quite a lot. A short time ago I saw an interview with John Cleese where he talked about how they wrote the Parrot Sketch. He said they used a thesaurus for that one, so I was inspired to try it on this story.

I am worried that I may have overdone the Tom Swiftlies. I think I have more than 200 now. Most of the time, when people read Tom Swiftlies, they only do a dozen or so at a time. Will people burn out after a hundred or so?

One article I read about comedy writing recommended that you write a good story first, then go back and make it funny. I tried to do that with this story. It has some similarities to "The Barrier". As it stands, the story is kind of thin, but I think it is enough of a story to make the humour work. I'm sure people will be more than happy to correct my impression.

See "The Barrier" at: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Swift Progress

I made some progress on my short story: "Tom Swiftly and his Incredible Traffic Model". I broke it up into seven sections and I have four done now. I might get a first draft done next week, although it looks like it will be busy. There were a few lines I wasn't happy with, but I decided to skip past them for now. I'll try to fix them in the rewrite.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

A New (Old) Transportation Planning Story

About 20 years ago I got an idea for a story about transportation planning. I've started and abandoned it several times. I think I'm finally on a track to get it done.

The initial inspiration for the story came from the book "The Wealthy Barber" by David Chilton. After several attempts, the story I have in mind now bears little resemblance to that book. I did use some of the ideas I developed in my movie "The Barrier".

The "story" will consist mainly of (hopefully) funny one liners. The plot is pretty rudimentary. There in lies the problem. With out a decent story line, it is very hard to place the jokes in any kind of order.

I read an article once about how to write comedy. The writer said that you write an interesting story, and only then do you go back and make it funny. I didn't do it that way, and I see now why that approach makes sense.

I developed the current approach back in 2010. While I generated a lot of one liners, I wasn't able to cobble them together. Last August I took a step back and developed a proper outline for the story. I still found it difficult to move forward with. It just seemed too intimidating.

This week I took another stab at it. I decided that I would break up the story into smaller sections and then work on each section one at a time. I thought that would make it less intimidating.

I got the first section done. After an initial slow start, it started to flow a bit easier. It could use some cleaning up, but over all I'm satisfied with it. I intended to move on to the next section right away, but then I got distracted by other things.

I'll try to get back on top of it next week.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

More Thoughts on "The Disruptors": Characters, Relationships, Terrorism, False Flags and Art

I haven't done much on my "The Disruptors" story idea for a while. This week I had a few ideas on how to overcome some of barriers I face.

Characters and Their Relationships

One mistake I've made with some of the stories I've worked on was not to put enough thought into the characters and their relationships. This is something I've been aware of for some time, but It has risen up in my consciousness in the last few weeks.

I think the work I did on my Doc Savage story, "The 89th Key" helped me realize that.  (see http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/).

What drove it home for me this week, was a comment in an interview about the Doc Savage convention. http://blogs.evtrib.com/nerdvana/comics/get-your-doc-savage-on-at-doc-con/107605/. Jay Ryan, one of the event’s original organizers, says that what attracted to him to the stories was that the stories, while adventure stories, were really about the characters and their friendship.

When I wrote my Doc Savage story, I found it much easier to write than many of my other stories, because the characters helped write the story. I hadn't thought of the characters in these stories as having much depth or reality. In some ways they are superficial. Never the less, they are distinct characters whose behaviour is predictable and consistent.

What is more important, as Jay Ryan points out in his interview, it is the relationships between the characters that make the story come alive. While I have tried to create characters for my stories, I usually make no effort to develop the relationships between the characters.

With my "The Disruptors" story idea, the plot I started to sketch out doesn't give much opportunity for relationships between the characters. I'm a little unsure about how I fix that. My initial feeling is that I should develop the characters and their relationships before I try to develop a plot.

Terrorism, False Flags and Performance Art

In my story, the protagonists' primary objective is to disrupt terrorist groups. I've struggled with just how the would do that. I know there are techniques to influence people to change their views, but I have trouble understanding them well enough to depict them in a way that makes a good story.

I've read several articles that ask the question: Does terrorism work?" Here's one of them: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/does-terrorism-work/394028/

The bottom line is that terrorism rarely, if ever, a successful tactic. This must be apparent to the terrorists; so why do they take this route? As I see it, terrorism is an act of desperation. It is the only tool a small group, with no broad support, have available. Small is a relative measure; a thousand terrorists is a big group, but on the world stage, that is a very small group.

Many conspiracy theorists claim that some terrorist attacks are "false flag" operations by the secret government to manipulate the population. I feel that terrorism is, in essence, always a false flag operation. Since these are small groups with little support, their objective is to appear to be larger, more effective and have broader support than they actually have.

In this view, terrorism is a kind of performance art. The objective is to provoke a response. They need to have their enemy over react to their threat. If the dominant power does what the terrorists want, they will attack the broader group the terrorists claim to represent and drive them to side with the terrorists. This, they hope, will eventually allow them to adopt tactics that are effective.

How does this help me develop the methods that my protagonists need to disrupt the terrorists? The most obvious objective would be to convince the terrorists that terrorism is unlikely to help them achieve their goals. I think it doesn't make sense to try to get them to give up their goals. Rather, we want them to find less violent ways they can work toward their goals. If their goals have broad appeal, they may succeed. If not, they won't.


I think these ideas are very helpful to me. There still remains a lot of effort to convert them into a workable basis for the stories. That is still intimidating.



This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

"Felix" and the Exploration of Mars - Part 2

I haven't done anything on my science fiction story "Felix" since last fall. This week I came across a couple articles on-line about a proposal for Martian exploration similar to what I had thought of as the back ground for my story.

Last year I wrote a blog post where I laid out how I thought Martian exploration could proceed and where my robot Felix would fit it. You can read it here: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/felix-and-the-exploration-of-mars/

This week I came across a couple articles about a proposal by Foster + Partners that was developed for NASA's 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge.

http://gizmodo.com/this-is-how-foster-partners-want-to-3d-print-a-martia-1732971874

http://www.dezeen.com/2015/09/25/foster-partners-concept-3d-printed-mars-habitat-robots-regolith/

In my proposal I didn't give much thought to the actual Mars base, while their proposal is only interested in construction of a base for visiting astronauts. Their approach is similar, in that they send robots ahead to construct the habitat in advance of the astronauts.

This does get me to rethink the background I've developed for the story. Although, I'm not sure that it would change the story much.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Experiments With the Trial Version of nawmalMAKE

I downloaded and tried out a trial version of nawmalMAKE, the replacement for Xtranormal. I wanted to see if I could use it to do a final version of "The Barrier".

I had planned to leave any evaluation of nawmalMAKE until later when I was ready to redo "The Barrier". This week I got a notice that I could download a trial version. The notice said it would only work for 7 days, so I thought I'd better have a quick look at it.

I did have some trouble initially because the password word wouldn't work. The support person at Nawmal was very helpful, and in short order everything was hunky dory. I remember that about a week before Xtranormal shut down, my copy of Xtranormal Desktop(XD) crashed. I didn't expect that I'd get any help, but when I contacted them, the person was also very helpful.

First Impressions

My first impression of nawmalMAKE was that it looked like a rerelease of XD. Of course, it has been over two years since I last used XD, so there are likely some differences I haven't recognized. As I worked with it, I did start to notice some improvements. The version number for the XD files (3.6.993.3994) was different from the version number nawmalMAKE files(4.0.50.109), so obviously they did make some changes.

When Nawmal asked for user feedback last year I suggested that they rerelease XD as soon as possible, then incorporate improvements from the original STATE and STATEPlus later as upgrades. It looks like they have started off in that direction.

Characters

My first concern was if the characters I used "The Barrier" were available. The trial version included the Suitz characters, which were the ones I used. All of the speaking characters are there. I didn't check for minor characters or background characters. If they are not available I can use some of the others that are available.

I noticed that the ability to customize characters is greatly improved. At least I don't recall the same flexibility with XD. Not all of the characters can be customised. Fortunately Phil, who I used as my main character is one of them.

I was able to change the style and colour of his clothes. Since he appears in almost every scene, it would add some variety if I can have him wear different clothes in different scenes. It is also quite easy to change skin tone, some facial features and hair style.

Most of the other characters I used could be customised.

STATEPlus provided similar capability. The version in nawmalMAKE seems to be more limited, but is also easier to use.

Voices

The voices provided with nawmalMAKE are different from both XD (Acapela) and the original STATE program (Nuance). I found the new voices were from a French company called Voxygen https://www.voxygen.fr/en/. They offer the voices as Android Apps. I must admit that I don't like these voices as much. Maybe I'm just not used to them. Most of the English voices are British. I got the impression that they expect that most users would used the TTS voices for scripting the video, then have actors do the voices for the final version.

I noticed that nawmalMAKE also picked up some voices I had installed for another program. The trial version said it provided a limited range of assets and I wonder if the full set includes other voices, or it is possible to buy the Acapela or Nuance voices.

I did find a work around for the Acapela voices. On their website you can create audio files for their voices. (See https://acapela-box.com/AcaBox/index.php). That would be expensive for a project like "The Barrier". I had planned to hire actors to redo the voices for the final version of the movie.

Project Files

Maybe it is the engineer in me, but I probed into the project files. XD and the original STATE program used the .STATE extension, while nawmalMAKE uses the .nwml extension. The .nwml files seem to be very similar to the XD version, although the some of the sub-file names are different.

The document.xml file looks as if it is the same format in XD and nawmalMAKE. The format for the original STATE files is different.

One thing I was a bit surprised to find was that when you ran the render, the program saved mp3 files of the dialogue in a sub directory of the .nwml file. I suppose that this saves time when re-rendering a scene, since you'd only need to use the TTS for only those lines that were changed.

Project File Compatibility

Since I have a large number of STATE files I already created in XD for "The Barrier" I wanted to see if I could convert them into the new format. I renamed the test files with the .nwml extension. I got errors because the voices were not compatible, but the file opened and everything seemed to work just fine.

Later I discovered that I didn't need to change the extension. when you open a file, it gives you the option of .nwml files or XD .STATE files. That worked just fine too.

My last experiment was to try to open a .STATE file created by the original STATE program. Initially, I couldn't open the project file. The program would report the problem with the missing voices, and then some kind of error with the set. It took me a while to realize that the set I'd used in the scene wasn't one of the sets available in the trial version of nawmalMAKE. Once I switched to a file with a set I did have, everything worked fine.

Final Thoughts

The goal of my evaluation was to see if I could use nawmalMAKE to create a final version of "The Barrier". I conclude that it will. Furthermore, the added ability to customise characters would let me add some variety to the movie.

I still have 4 more days to experiment with the trial version. Off the top of my head I can't think of any thing more I want to test. If you have some suggestions, please let me know.

My other experiences with Xtranormal

I have some other posts related to my use of Nawmal and Xtranormal. I used Xtranormal to make two videos: "The Barrier" and "Make ’em Squirm: The Sharkbiter Way". I've listed links to these two movies, and the blog posts I did while I made them.

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-new-nawmal-good-news-for-the-barrier/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/">http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/category/film-projects/the-barrier/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/make-em-squirm-the-sharkbiter-way/

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/category/film-projects/orville-sharkbiter/

Additional Note (2015 September 27):

The new program seems to have a limit of 6 characters. I tried to add some background characters to create the impression of a busy office, and ran into the limit. In some of the scenes for "The Barrier" I have more than six characters. It may be that the limit is just in the trial version.

Another issue with the background characters is that they keep looking at the main characters and the main characters look back at them. I can control where specific characters look, which I've done before. But it is a tedious task.

Note (2015 November 1):

I added the section "My other experiences with Xtranormal" to provide links to my other posts about Xtranormal and Nawmal.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

A Futuristic Tale of a Brave Man in a Dangerous World

A while back, I posted a new short story, "Pete's Plan" on my website, then I forgot to tell anyone.

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/petes-plan/

"Pete's Plan" is a short science fiction story set in a future where mind uploading is a reality. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_uploading) It is not the Utopia that many had expected and Pete has a plan to change that.

Have a look at it and tell me what you think.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

Can Cognitive Biases Help Me With Character Motivations?

One of the challenges of writing a story is that the protagonist needs to be dumb enough to get into trouble, but smart enough to get out of trouble. It occurred to me that cognitive biases could provide easier explanations for a character's bad choices. Characters need to make bad decisions in order for there to be a story, but they can't make a bad decision just for the sake of the story.

I originally became interested in cognitive biases because I saw them as an explanation for why "those people" acted so dumb. Later, I realized that I am often suffer from the same biases in my thinking. When I came across a few articles on cognitive bias recently, it struck me that I could use them in my writing.

What is a cognitive bias?

There are several explanations for why we have cognitive biases. My impression is that most reflect thinking shortcuts or the limitations in our brains. They can lead to what appears to be irrational behaviour.

Wikipedia's list of cognitive biases includes about 170 different biases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

Some examples:

• Confirmation bias is when people tend to accept information that supports their current view, and reject information that does not support their view.
• Anchoring is where people place more emphasis on their initial impressions than on later, often better quality, information.
• Self-serving bias is where people interpret information in ways that make them look better.
• Money illusion  is where people focus on the face value of money rather than its purchasing power.

One thing to keep in mind is that these biases are tendencies, and people can learn to set them aside when they actively want to avoid bias in their thinking. There is some evidence that cognitive biases may vary from one culture to another.

More information on cognitive biases can be found on the links below.

"Day of the Jackal"

When I started to think about cognitive bias as an explanation of character behaviour, I remembered the book and movie "Day of the Jackal". In the first part of the story, the Jackal is portrayed as a very rational contract killer. He tells the people that hired him that as a professional he would call off the assassination if his own life was in danger. Later in the story, when he learns that the police are aware of his plan, he decides to go ahead. This comes across as an irrational choice, especially given his earlier statement.

The book implies that his desire for the money drives him to his decision. However, his choice can also be explained in terms of cognitive biases.

Since he has been successful in all his previous jobs, he is subject to the overconfidence effect. He downplays the likelihood of failure and the overestimates the chances of success. His past experience may also give him an illusory superiority bias, where he over estimates his own ability and underestimates the ability of the police.

The explanation given in the book, that the desire for money drives his decision, is an example of optimism bias, or wishful thinking. He thinks that because he wants the money that he will get it.

"The Barrier"

See: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier/

Cognitive biases can explain some of the behaviour of characters in my movie. Some decisions by the character Brandon Baker can be seen as examples of cognitive bias.

Brandon had done a study of the barrier himself some ten years earlier and decided it wasn't needed. Brandon rejection of Arthur's proposal could be an example of anchoring. He gives more weight to his own work years earlier than on both Ling's and Arthur's later work.

At the end, when it appears that the barrier was, in fact, needed, Brandon claims that he felt that way all along. This is a clear case of self serving bias. Outcome bias may also be a factor. Because of the way things turn out, it seems that the barrier was needed. The outcome may not invalidate his original rejection of the proposal. In the movie I didn't address this possibility.

What I see as one of the weak points of the story is the behaviour of the developer, Vincent Campbell. Too much of what he does seems to be for the sake of the plot. I think I can use cognitive biases to craft him into a more believable character. As I think over his role, I can see examples of superiority bias, confirmation bias, and the false consensus effect. I think that if I take a more detailed look at Campbell's behaviour I can find ways to explain the behaviour or alter it to make it reflect a cognitive bias.

Can I Use Cognitive Bias?

Time will tell, but I'm confident that I can use cognitive biases in creating my characters. Of course that could be the overconfidence effect at work.

More Information on Cognitive Biases

• http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-prevent-you-from-being-rational
• http://www.businessinsider.com/cognitive-biases-2014-6?op=1
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusion_of_control
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overconfidence_effect
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

The New Nawmal: Good News for "The Barrier"

I used Xtranormal to make "The Barrier", but was unable to properly finish the movie because the company shut down before I could finish it. Now a new company, Nawmal, is releasing software based on Xtranormal. Maybe I can now finished my movie.

Nawmal (http://www.nawmal.com/) sent me an e-mail this week that the official release of their new software, nawmalMAKE, would be September 30, 2015.

Target Market and Cost

So far there isn't very much information on the website. The impression I got was that the initial release, a commercial version, it is aimed at the corporate video market. The applications they list for the software are pretty much limited to that market.

The price they have set for it, $1,000 a year, which I think would be appropriate for the corporate video market. They offer a monthly rate of $100.

Finishing "The Barrier"

I don't consider the version of "The Barrier" I have on YouTube to be final. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcKnFAwlU0)

My objective for the next version of "The Barrier" is to hire actors to redo the dialogue. With my current personal commitments, I don't think I can devote the time and effort to make that happen for a while yet. There is no real urgency for me to make any kind of decision about how I'd use the software just yet.

The Nawmal website says that they plan to release two more versions of the software. One aimed at the education market, nawmalEDU, and the other for "fun" users, nawmalFUN. I don't really fit into any of the markets they seem to be going after. I would need many of the features that would only be available in the commercial version. But, the price is kind of steep for me.

I thought I might be able to use nawmalFUN to develop the movie, then switch to the commercial version when I want to finish the movie for release. From the description of nawmalFUN, that doesn't look like it would work.

If there are enough movie makers like myself, maybe we could negotiate a different kind of license that would work better for us. Of course it wouldn't work if there were too many.

nawmalMAKE as Script Writing Software

I know that one of the original goals of the software was to help script writers visualize their scripts. Their thought was that writers would transfer their script into the program to generate the movie.

My experience with the software makes me feel that it would work better the other way round.  When I created "The Barrier" I transferred some scenes from the short stories I wrote, while other scenes I created from scratch within Xtranormal. I felt the scenes I wrote within the program worked much better and were easier to write.

A good example of this was the scene between the Mayor and Brandon Baker. My initial idea for the scene was a few short lines that set up the threat to Arthur. But, as I worked on the scene, the personalities of the two characters started to solidify and that changed how they interacted. I started to see how the history between the two characters underlay the scene.

You can watch this scene at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcKnFAwlU0 starting at 1:36 and running to 3:09.

I think there would need to be some additional features added to make it viable option as a script writing tool. For example it would need to output to a script format. I created a simple process to do this with the old STATE files. (http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/the-barrier-progress-and-file-conversion/) It wasn't very reliable, but I think it shows that it can be done.

I hope Nawmal is successful. I want to use it in the future, but I know they can't make a go of the business if I'm a typical client. The focus on the corporate market, if it works, could ensure their future.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

What Would A Revolution in the Future Be Like?

I posted a new short story about a revolution in a future society. 

"Pete's Plan" is the story of a man who wants a better life for his children. In the world he lives in there isn't much of a future for them. But, one day, Pete realizes that he has a unique opportunity to change that.

Read it here: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/petes-plan/

The Story Behind the Story

I wrote this story a couple years ago. In part it was inspired by an article that I wrote some time earlier: "What Would A World With 90 Per Cent Unemployment Be Like?" http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/articles/what-would-a-world-with-90-per-cent-unemployment-be-like/

The story ended up to be almost exactly 1,000 words long. I felt good about it and submitted it to a science fiction magazine. They rejected it, so I tried a few others, but no one bought it. The main criticism was that it read more like a proposal for a story than a story.

I was reluctant to rewrite the story, because as it stood, it reflected almost exactly what I wanted to say. I put the story away with the idea that maybe down the road I might come up with a different approach. The one possibility was that it could be rewritten in first person. I think it would lose something.

Finally, I decided that I should go ahead and post it. I hope you find it worth the read.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

4 Things I Learned From "The 89th Key"

I feel that "The 89th Key" was a good learning experience for me. I've organized some of  my thoughts about what I learned.

The Outline

I have used outlines for most of my stories and all of my movie scripts. With "The 89th Key" I put more effort into the outline. I think I put as much effort into it as I did into the first draft and the rewrite.

This extra effort paid off for me. It made the first draft go much smoother. I feel that it is at the outline stage that the hard work of writing happens. One way to look at it is that the outline is the real first draft of the story, and the first draft is a rewrite.

If you can work out the structure and action at the outline stage, then you can focus on the actual wording when you come to write the story. Many of the problems I ran into were because I hadn't done enough work on the outline.

I want to work on how I create an outline. I have in the past developed a grid in a Excel spreadsheet to help me develop my outline. With "The 89th Key" what I wrote was more like a treatment or short story version of the tale.

Character Definition

One thing that helped me a lot was that the characters in Doc Savage are well defined. They are not necessarily complicated characters, or even very realistic. But, they have distinctive characters and I found it easy to imagine how they would behave in different situations.

This definition of character made it much easier to write the story. At times the characters seemed to come to life and all I had to do was type out what they did.

I realize that most of the characters I create are not as well defined. I can feel it when I have to force generic characters to do something. There are exceptions; the characters in "The Barrier" are all quite distinct.

I want to develop a check list of the types of things I need to define for each character. In the past I've focussed on general descriptions and didn't go into depth. What I think may be a better approach is to consider how they would behave in different situations. For example, if some one attacked them, would they fight back, surrender, run away or try to reason with them.

Relationships between Characters

This is something I've never given much thought to. A good example in the Doc Savage books is the relationship between Monk and Ham. Their rivalry is a bit cartoonish, but it adds something to the stories.

When I develop characters I need to consider how they relate to one another. Do they like each other? Do they trust each other? Do they hang out together after work? What do they talk about when they aren't talking about work? What do they have in common?

These relationships can add colour to a story, but can also help drive the story forward.

Like with the characters themselves, I want to come up with a check list of the types of relationships that characters can have. As I develop each character I can work how they relate to the others.

Number of Characters

The Doc Savage books have six on-going characters. Seven if you include Doc's cousin Pat. There is usually one main bad guy with a bunch of nameless subordinate bad guys. In contrast I usually have just the hero and his sidekick, plus an equal number of bad guys. "The Barrier" was an exception to this.

What I noticed was that when I had more good guys to work with, it was easier to come up with things to happen in the story. On the other hand, I found it hard to give some characters anything to do.

I think that while you can have too few characters, you can also have too many. What the best number of characters is, I am not really sure. If I planned to do a series of stories, I would want to have a few extra around that could play a bigger role in later stories. For a stand alone story, they would just be in the way.

I'm sure that there is more for me to learn, but I really feel that this little project has been one of my more fruitful projects.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog

I Finally Brought A Long Held Dream to Fruition

Long ago I decided I wanted to write a Doc Savage adventure. Now I finally did.

You can download and read it from my website: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/

The 89th Key - A Doc Savage Adventure

A strangely familiar sound brings death rather than reassurance. The quiet contemplation of a charity concert is broken by the sudden violent kidnapping of Warren Evans, a prominent businessman. Doc Savage and his men have only hours to rescue him.

Read the HTML version: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/the-89th-key-html-version/

ePub version download page: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/the-89th-key-epub-version/

MOBI version download page: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/the-89th-key-mobi-version/

PDF version download page: http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/stories/the-89th-key/the-89th-key-pdf-version/

The Story Behind the Story

When I was in high school I wanted to write a novel. I played around with some ideas, but they never went anywhere. At the time I read a lot of Doc Savage books and was quite familiar with the characters. I decided that it would be easier for me to write a book if I wrote it as a Doc Savage story.

So, during the summer between high school and university I started on my own Doc Savage adventure story. That was in 1972 if you must know. I called it "The Smiling Corpse". I managed to write a bit more than one chapter; about 2,200 words altogether. At that point I gave up because I felt that I just wasn't ready.

Over the last few years I have developed my writing somewhat and written some longer stories. I have 3 or 4 novella length stories that I got stuck on. A couple months ago I decided that maybe I had reached the point where I could probably write my own Doc Savage adventure, so I did. I'd used "The Smiling Corpse" title for a different project, so I developed a new plot and title: "The 89th Key".

In part, my objective was to fulfill a long ago ambition, but I also thought it would be good practice for my own writing. I think I did learn a lot from the experience.

I wrote an outline and then started the first draft. I completed the first draft two weeks after I started on the outline. I did a couple more drafts and had the final version done a month later. In the rewrites I fixed grammar, wording and some plot inconsistencies. I didn't make any major changes to the story.

I felt the story turned out pretty good. While I've read quite a few Doc Savage books, my knowledge of the characters and settings falls well short of encyclopaedic. Connoisseurs of Doc Savage may be disappointed.

The book was shorter than I would have liked. It came in at 25,700 words, which makes it a novella. During the original run of Doc Savage, the average length was 38,500 words, but this varied quite a bit. "The Land of Terror" at 56,000 words was the longest. "Fire and Ice" at 25,200 words was the shortest. So, while my story is on the short end of the range, it isn't the shortest.

Legal Issues

While I intended to undertake the project as a writing exercise, I did want to share it with other people. That is a bit of a problem. I looked into what the legal status of a book like this is, and if I could make it available.

In Canada, where I live, the copyright of a book lasts for 50 years after the death of the author. Other countries have that set at 70 years. Lester Dent, who wrote most of the Doc Savage adventures passed away in 1959, which would make the ones he wrote in the public domain in Canada. However, another consideration is that the name Doc Savage is a trademark. Currently, the publisher Condé Nast owns that trademark. I assume this would include integral elements of the stories, such as the other characters.

Another consideration is the growth in "Fan Fiction." Many people write their own stories based on characters and make them available. There are many Harry Potter fan written stories for example. I found some discussions of the legal status of fan fiction that I think is relevant.

Strictly speaking, fan fiction would be considered a copyright violation. However, some authors and publishers tolerate and sometimes encourage fan fiction. This is because fan fiction can help market the books they sell. This is purely at the discretion of the authors or publishers. I found some Doc Savage fan fiction on the Internet, which suggests to me that it is tolerated by the publisher.

From what I read about what is acceptable in fan fiction the main consideration is that you can't sell it. I am hadn't intended to sell it anyway, so I don't mind this restriction.  Another consideration is how widely available the book is. Generally speaking, most fan fiction gets very little distribution. I don't expect that this book will be widely read.

Of course, should the owners of the Doc Savage trademark  ask me to remove my book from the Internet, I would quite willingly comply. Although, I do think it is to their advantage to allow it to be available.

Since my intention was to have this be a writing exercise, I wouldn't be too upset if I couldn't share it with others.

What's Next

While I am happy how this book turned out, I would like to write a book that I can sell. In earlier blog posts I talked about an idea I call "The Disruptors" which I could do in the same way as this book.

I think the most important lesson I learned when I wrote "The 89th Key" was how important it is to develop your characters. This book is very focussed on the plot, but when you have very distinct characters like in the Doc Savage stories, the writing becomes much easier. The characters give life to the story. Otherwise, you just push them around like a bunch of toy soldiers.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog