Tuesday, February 20, 2007
American Idol: Men 2/20/2007The new season is off, and since I had so much fun covering it last year, I decided to cover the show again this year.
Unfortunately, unlike last year, there are no real standouts for me this year. But there are a few I have picked to make it to the final 12. Tonight it was the men’s turn singing. I will point out the highlights and skip over the rest since there we 12 singers and I am insanely busy right now with deadlines (hence my lack of blogging lately).
My impression of the men this year is too many skin heads. I mean, come on, Daughtry is the most successful of last year Idols so far. His new CD has sold 1.5 million to Taylor Hicks 640,000. And he has two hit songs so far to Taylor’s none. Which is a disappointment, I must say. (Hey, even Kellie Pickler has outsold McPhee so far.) None the less, the majority of the dudes this year all seem alike. And they all have that Britney Spears/Chris Daughtry look. What is this, a pool hall? I have never seen so many cueballs since a Dr. Evil convention.
Of these shiny pated chumps, I would say the two stand out singers for me is Chris Richardson, who everyone compares to Justin Timberlake and Phil Stacey who looks a little like a love child of Don Knotts and Telly Savalas. His sob story is that he missed the birth of hid first child to audition for Idol. I suspect he will make it to the final 12 due to his humbleness and good sining skills.
For me the standouts with hair this year are Chris Sligh, who looks nothing like a pop star but has the singing chops and the personality to make it on some level. Brandon Rogers, who is competing with Sanjaya Malakar for the Ace Young 2007 award. Both are extra cute so the girls will vote for them, both know how to mug the camera. Though Sanjaya seems to be very sincere about it. I suspect he will lose in a few rounds because he is too timid. But I’m dating myself when I say he reminds me of a young Leif Garrett. I can see him becoming a teen idol. We’ll see. His singing was not great, but neither was Kellie Pickler’s and she almost stole the show last year.
I think my favorite is Blake Lewis, the beat box singer from Seattle. Aside from his Anime hair style, he is not only an excellent singer, he shows a lot of versatility. I think he has a shot at the final three.
The rest were fair to middling. Jared Cotter was really good but kind of familiar. The one guy I was sort of rooting for, Sundance Head, seems to be flaming out. He may get another chance next week, but he really needs to bring it to survive. Though I suspect Vote for the Worst will champion him this year.
The balance of the men will probably be weeded out in the next few weeks unless one of them turns out to be a surprise. I am still hoping Sundance will bring it, since he showed so much promise in his audition. We’ll see.
I am looking forward to ladies’s night tomorrow. They have some real stand outs this year on the girl’s side. Probably because they had a bigger talent pool to choose from. Meet me back here tomorrow.
UPDATE: Dial Idol predicts Paul Kim and Nick Pedro to be voted off. Sundance is the most popular of the night! Followed by Sanjay. Interesting.
A World Without America
Somehow, I don’t think England would still be free in this case. But it’s a video still worth watching.
Secrets of Writing: Dialog Part 1
If there’s anything as important as the structure and the characterization, it’s the dialog.
That’s why it gets its own section. There’s a lot to cover here.
People will judge you heavily by your dialog. Even if the plot is bad, the dialog can make you look good. There are a lot of half-baked stories out there people like because of the dialog. But dialog is no substitute for a great story. They should go hand in hand.
The technique of writing good dialog is fairly simple. But it can still be very tough to get right. It boils down to a few simple rules:
1. Dialog is not real conversation. It’s only supposed to sound real.
2. It must sound realistic. Say it out loud to be sure.
3. Keep it short and sweet.
4. If you’ve heard it before, think of another way of saying it.
5. All clichés must die!
6. Research! Cultures and sub-cultures have their own slanguage.
7. Dialog should not be expected unless you want it to be
The Nature of Dialog
Dialog is not real conversation. Real conversation is a boring and oppressive when translated to print. People use too many “Ums” and “Ahs” and “You knows” and “I means” and lots of other redundant words and sounds.
Dialog needs to be memorable. It can’t be even remotely dull. Because any forgettable dialog sucks energy from your story. Good dialog adds to the pleasure of reading and thus adds energy to the story.
The “show, don’t tell” rule applies as much to dialog as anything else we’ve talked about. If you can show us something visually, instead of telling us, it will work better for you. If not, then make that dialog zing.
Dialog should first be dramatic, then informational. That is your priority. Every line should advance the story and help make the responding dialog more exciting.
Have you ever seen a conversation between two people where you were just dying to hear everything they say because each line made you want to hear the other character’s response? You need to be able to do that in your story. You need to make those lines of dialog count.
This is helped by following the above rules. Now let’s get into specifics.
Prolixity
This is a form of writing that must be avoided at all cost. Unless you are doing it on purpose. Prolixity is the term for sentences that use too many words. Too many words makes a sentence boring. It makes it passive.
“We talked for what seemed like days as the cold September morning turned to afternoon, then night, then morning again as we talked and talked some more about all the things that were on our minds and all the things we should have done to stop the terror that was ravaging the city while we impotently looked on. Finally, we had a plan after discussing all the possible outcomes of every action we could take to end the problems that faced us.”
Aside from taking too long to say what it has to say, the above paragraph is full of redundancy. When you take too long to say something, your writing becomes vague. It causes the audience’s mind to wander. Think back on those days in high school when some boring teacher droned on about history or math. Remember how you would rather be doing something else? We’ll you don’t want the reader to feel that way. You want them to be excited and involved. Anything but bored.
The above paragraph would read better this way:
“We talked from dawn till dusk till dawn again, covering every possible contingency. The fear that was ravaging the city had to be stopped. Now we had a plan.”
Less is More
Short sentences have more punch. Long sentences take longer to read, so the energy it takes to read them is dragged out and diminished. People respond to sound bites more than to speeches. This is why people with emotionally charged causes sound more correct on television, even though they’re usually presenting disinformation and/or out and out propaganda.
The human mind accepts information more easily when the information comes in simple bursts. You’re driving down a highway and see a sign that says:
FOOD
This has more resonance for most people than: JOHN’S COUNTRY KITCHEN SERVING HOT MEALS AT A GOOD PRICE.
Both work, but the first one is primal. It allows you to fill in the blanks and create a immediate image in your mind. The second tells you more information and thus you have more to process in your mind. It complicates things.
If there was a sign that said: JOHN’S COUNTRY KITCHEN SPECIALIZING IN HAMBURGERS, STEAKS, BREAKFAST FOODS. WE ALSO HAVE SHAKES, MUFFINS, PIES AND OTHER CULINARY TREATS TO WHET YOUR APPETITE.
This is even more information. It’s also more specific. It robs us of our imagination. A vegetarian might be put off by all the mention of meat products. A dieter might think...too fattening, move on. But a sign that says FOOD allows us to become curious and want to find out more. It only tells us what we need to know. Nothing more.
The object of prose is to keep the reader interested. To keep their eyes glued to the page. You want them to read the next sentence and the next and the next. You want to stimulate them.
Keeping the text short and sweet does this very well. It retains more mystery, which due to human nature, makes the reader curious to know more. We want to know what’s in the box, what’s behind that door. As a writer, you’re leading them through a great castle, through secret passages, up stairs, through cavernous halls. You should keep their excitement high as they explore the mysteries you’re about to unfold.
Short sentences are snappy. They are easy to read, easy to understand. When you write a line of dialog or a line of prose in a caption, take a hard look at it. See if you can’t cut words, shorten it. See if it can’t be said more strongly, more effectively.
REMEMBER: Less is more when it comes to prose.
