We Can Rebuild Him. We Have The Technology

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way

See a movie that sucks? Read a book that blows? Play a video game that leaves you asking what the fuck? Make that bitter disappointment a critical exercise.

Don’t just complain! Try to pinpoint what went wrong and when; see if you can think of a way to improve or outright correct the story/plot elements to salvage that burning dumpster fire into something palatable.

Not only is it a cathartic exercise to exorcise that bad taste it left in your mouth, but it can help you gain a better understanding of how to craft a better story.

Having analyzed what are, in your mind, failures, you can note what you can do differently in your own story to avoid making the same pitfalls.

Conversely if you experience a poignant scene or story beat why not try and figure out what it was about it that plucked your particular set of heartstrings?

Now, I am by no means suggesting you analyze something to death (I’m a firm believer in the old adage that dissecting a work is like dissecting a frog: you may gain a better technical understanding of how it all fits together but the frog dies in the process).

No, dear reader, instead I merely ask you charge yourself with dwelling on those memorable moments, the highs and lows that leave us feeling satisfied or in white knuckled rage at their having fallen flat. For the good you get to relieve some of your favorite highlights and for the bad you get to rip it into tiny little shreds like it deserves.

Either way I call that a win-win!