Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Book to a Move? Not always great..

I have always been one of those people, who whenever asked how a book-turned-into-movie was, I always respond with a "oh the movie was good, but the book was MUCH better."
I found that I could relate with these articles on a few of the points they have made. Like the point that a couple of the articles made about how the Harry Potter movies are not as good as the books are. I would most definitely agree with this point. Personally, I am a huge fan of J.K Rowling's writings, and I have re-read the Harry Potter books many times over the 8 or 9 years they have been out. I have also seen all of the movies, and I would have to say the books are much better.
I understand the many problems and issues with trying to turn a great successful book into a motion picture. Books with magical elements might be harder to recreate than those books without the magic. Everyone is bound to imagine a scene with a dragon flying around spitting fire differently. To try and put that type of imagination into a film would be difficult. I actually know people who refuse to watch the Harry Potter movies because they are afraid the movie will ruin their perception of the magical aspects in the books.
However, I would have to say that I would much rather watch the movie The Godfather, than read the book. That is my personal preference of course, and I am sure there are people who would rather enjoy the book. Another personal example would be the book A Walk to Remember. I have done both; watch the movie and read the book and I would have to lean more towards liking the movie more. I guess it's really just up to the audiences preference.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Comics; Action Packed Fun

I found these articles to be some what eye opening. I have always just thought of comics as being easy to create; sort of just throwing captions to little drawings in little boxes. After I read through these articles, I came to realize that it is much much more than just that. You have to actually put work into making a creative, and interesting comic.
I actually have a tiny bit of second hand experience with comic books. My older brother has always been very artistically creative ever since he was able to finger paint. He would literally bring home finger paintings of his kinder garden teacher, that had great detail. But anyway, my brother was always drawing little characters with captions on pretty much all of his papers, bringing a form of life to every paper he touched with his pencil. He actually put together a few comic strips himself over the years, and if I must say so myself, they were pretty awesome. The drawings on each slide were detailed enough that you could almost see movement throughout them. Not only is my brother extremely talented with art, but he has the best sense of humor you can get. His comics literally made whoever read them laugh out loud, and each slide transitioned perfectly to the next, so your eyes just kept flowing through, slide to slide.
Other than my brothers comics, I have never really read a lot of them. Unless you count the Sunday Funnies page.
I liked how in the article "Visual Language: Writing for Comics" the author of the article included steps on how to creatively compose an interesting comic. I found some of them interesting. However, since I really do not plan on writing my own comic anytime soon, the information given was just extremly informing.

Monday, October 19, 2009

National Writing Day

I decided to post the beginning of a piece of creative writing that I had to write for a composition class a few years ago while I was in High School. I decided to post this creative writing, because I personally think creative writing is extremely important. I'm the type of person would could sit and read creative stories, and books all day. When I think of a piece of creative writing, I think of a way for someone to escape their own world and sort of jump into another, through that piece of literature. For as long as I can remember, I have been totally in love with reading any type of fictional writing. When I think of creative writing, I automatically think of descriptive, creative writing that is meant to paint a scene in it's reader's mind, not just inform them of what is happening throughout the story line.
I also decided on this piece of writing, because it was the only thing I could really think of that I felt like sharing with other people. Most of my writing is very personal, and can't find it in me to share that kind of stuff with people, considering on how shy of a person I am, even online. But since I wrote this many years ago, I felt it was alright, and it has nothing to do with me, so I'm fine with posting it online.
As you can tell by the piece of writing I posted on the website, creative writing is not my strong point. Then again, writing in general is not really my strong point. I have always kept a diary for as long as I can remember, and my boyfriend is currently deployed in Afghanistan, so writing letters are a part of my everyday life, but writing for other people, such as papers, and even blogs, is not my cup of tea. I would much rather read. Since I am more of the reader than the writer, I know how important a good piece of creative writing can be. I would much rather read a story that is full of detail and new words that make me think, than read a piece of writing lacking detail and using everyday words. When I read for pleasure, I love when the author of the writing puts such description behind their words, that it is almost like watching the book play out in my mind.
Personally, I think that the reader of a piece of writing is just as important as the writer themselves. If an author writes something that no one will want to read, then what is really the point? So whenever someone is writing a creative piece of writing, they should always keep their readers in mind. When you are reading something, would you rather have it painted out all nice and pretty for you or would you rather have to guess what the author is trying to say, and wishing you were reading something else? This is why I think descriptive writing is extremely important in any type of writing, but most importantly, creative writing. If only we could somehow get text book authors to be more creative; maybe more people would actually enjoy reading their works.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Creative Writing

I must say that I'm not much of a creative writer myself, but I really do enjoy reading the works of those who are talented in creative writing. I had chose the article on descriptive writing because I really thought that it showed really good examples of description and how and where to apply it. The piece of information that I'm taking from it would be the 'show don't tell'. When you are writing, you want to show your audience what you're trying to say, not have them need to sit there and try to paint their own picture in their head. I've always enjoyed the stories that paint the picture of the setting, or characters in your head and reading it is almost like watching a movie. I find that when books are detailed like this, its hard to put them down. This may sound nerdy, but when I'm in the middle of a really descriptive book, and I need to go do something else I find myself thinking about the book, and wondering what is going to happen next. Those kinds of books are probably the best. I would much rather read a Harry Potter book that is packed with characterization and details than watch a movie lacking description. I think that creative writing is in the top two most important forms of writing. It can be personal, or shared, and is a great way to show what you're thinking through great details.