The Seanachai

St. Michael here, just checking in to point out the new website design here at The Seanachai (as if you hadn’t noticed). We’re super proud of the new look and we hope you like it, too! Some other, minor, organizational things on the site may be changing in the near-ish future, but nothing you need worry your little heads about. For the time being; enjoy the new site!

Growing up is hard. And I’m not sure it gets any easier the older you get. It just stays hard. For example, I have trouble delegating. When I get in my head to do something, by gum and Jupiter (and a bunch of other corny psuedo-swear words) I jump in and do it. Read the rest of this entry

Every job has it’s ups and downs. Recently I had a pretty big up when I shot these spots for the local hockey team. Seriously, this *is* my day job. At least on a good day.

Check all of the out on YouTube. Read the rest of this entry

Okay, okay. So I’m lame for being quiet for so long. (And I know I’m lame)

But things are bubbling. I swear they are. For one thing, we’ve got a colorist (the Mighty Myron Macklin) and he’s awesome. And we’re almost, almost, almost, so close I can taste it, done with the color version of the book.
And of course, if you’ve caught up with the latest installment. We can expect many interesting things from Topper in what I’m going to call Season Two of How to Succeed in Evil.
Here’s a peek at the color (unlettered)

technorati tags:How to Succeed in Evil, Patrick E. McLean, comic book, Graphic Novel, Edwin Windsor, Nic Rummel, Myron Macklin

I’m a professional writer. My words pay for my bread, my beer and everything else I consume. Last year, not counting re-writes or emails, I generated 400 pages. That’s a novel worth of writing. Except that I don’t write novels.

The average length of what I write is about two pages. Which means I started writing something new about 200 times last year. And as you’ve probably experienced, starting is the hardest part.

Hell, starting an email is hard. I write for a living and starting is hard. But if I don’t start, I can’t finish. And if I can’t finish, I can’t get paid. And when I really get stuck, this is what I do to avoid starvation:

I write longhand.

Seems silly, but, for me, this is the gold standard of all writing hacks. The problem with writing is, in many ways, the same problem as hitting a golf ball. Both the page and the ball just sit there. And when you write you have (theoretically) a lifetime to rewrite it until you get it right.

But that gives the critical part of your brain time to jump in a muck everything up. It needs something to critize. That’s it’s job after all. But when I write longhand, instead of giving me a stream of, “you’re writing sucks, it sucks, it sucks, sucks, sucks and you just changed tenses you eggsucking loser” it pours forth with “you’re HANDwriting sucks, it sucks, it sucks, sucks, sucks, go back to those huge pencils you had in kindergarden you loser.”

This is a huge difference. Because now the critical part of my brain is no longer in the way of the creative part of my brain. The critical function is necessarily and naturally secondary to the creative function. Something must exist before you can start whining about it.

In fact, the more I focus on the quality of my handwriting, the easier the process seems to be. So when you’re really stuck - go low tech on the problem. Bust out the paper and pen and start scrawling away.
And let me know if it works for you.

technorati tags:writing hacks, Patrick E. McLean, writing, writing tips, Structure of Story, Seanachai

Patrick McLean was given a Parsec Award for “Best Fiction (Long)” for How to Succeed in Evil!

Patrick McLean was given a Parsec Award for “Best Fiction (Non-speculative)” for Death of a Dishwasher!

So the Seanachai (I guess I could just say ‘I’) won two Parsec Awards this weekend. It’s somehow fitting that it was Labor Day weekend. Because if there’s one thing a podcast requires it labor. And it’s very nice to get recognition for that labor.
The Seanachai was nominated in four categories and won in two. Best Long Fiction for How to Succeed in Evil. And Best Non-speculative fiction for Death of Dishwasher.
You can see the field and the other winners here.
One of the biggest difficulties with listening to podcasts is finding good ones. And all the podcasts in the running were vetted by a panel of judges. They’re good. So if you’re looking for something to tide you over until the next Seanachai, they’re worth your while to check out. The ones I haven’t listened are absolutely on my list.
And while I’m pontificating on awards, let me just say this. It’s important not to take them too seriously. It’s wonderful to get recognition. But they are just somebody else’s opinion. And they are subject to all the whims and capriciousness of the rest of human existence.
To put this phenomenon in perspective, check out this list from the 1941 Academy Awards.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Orson Welles

Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White
Perry FergusonVan Nest Polglase
A. Roland Fields
Darrell Silvera

Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Gregg Toland

Best Director
Orson Welles

Best Film Editing
Robert Wise

Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture
Bernard Herrmann

Best Picture
Orson Welles

Best Sound, Recording
John Aalberg (RKO Radio SSD)

Citizen Kane, the film that many pick as the greatest of all time, didn’t win a single one of these awards. Not one. The only Oscar that it garnered was for Best Screenplay.
Connect the dots as you like, but that’s how I try to put award shows in the proper perspective.

technorati tags:Parsec Awards, Patrick E. McLean, Succeed in Evil, Death of a Dishwasher, Seanachai, Seanachai podcast

If I told you I knew how to write dialog I would be lying. I have no clue how I do it. I listen and type what I hear. (Yes, these are the voices in my head.) So when people go on and on about dialog it bores me. And not just because I feel like it’s easy for me. It’s because I don’t think dialog is all that important. Not fundamentally. Read the rest of this entry

Let’s analyze a few storires using the expectations model. Nothing rigorous here, just what popped off the top o my head.
The Book of Job: A man’s life falls apart. We expect him to curse his maker. We would totally sympathize if he did. (Since it’s his maker’s fault.) But he does not.
Gospel according to Mark: A man dies. We expect him to stay dead. He does not. He returns from the dead.

High Noon - Bad guy returns to town on the day of the former Sheriff’s wedding. We expect the Sherriff to get married and leave town. But he doesn’t. We expect at least some of the townspeople to help him - but they don’t. We expect his wife to stand by him, but she doesn’t. (Do not forsake me oh my Darling…)

Rocky - Even though the conventions of the boxing story demand that the underdog win at the end, the story creates expecations that Rocky is a bum. That he doesn’t stand a chance. Further, we expect the guy who’s a boxer to be brutish and rough. But the plot with Adrian defies that expectation by showing him to be surprisingly tender and gentle.

To Kill a Mockingbird - We expect Boo Radley to be a monster. He winds up saving Scout.
Don Quixhote - We expect the good Don to take the first good beating and go home. We expect Sancho Panza to wise up and desert the old fool.

Raiders of the Lost Ark - We expect Indy to get into a huge brawl with the guy with the sword - but he just shoots him.

I’m not saying unexpectedness is the gauge of a good story - but there appears to be something going on here. You give me a good story and I’ll show you that a big part of it is unexpected.

technorati tags:Patrick E. McLean, Structure of Story, Story, Writing, Story Construction, Plots