This one… is a rarity for me. I don’t typically deal in anything Metallica post ’89. Once the Black album came out, it was fairly obvious that band had sold their soul to the ‘alternative’ genre that is the bane of most metal/hard rock fans. It’s an all encompassing, soul-sucking, genre that has some of the most vapid, and undefinable music out there. Remember all those bands that flooded the airwares in the 90s that sang out of the corner of their mouths and emphasized vowels? Yup, alt-rock.:
So why am I recommending this one? Because its pretty much the best thing they’ve put out since ‘And Justice for All’ and honestly… it’s fairly decent. It’s not metal or anything like that, but it really helps me write sometimes.
When to listen: This is a cool down song. After a very tense scene, listen to this when the hero is trying to collect his/herself and their group.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
Well I couldn’t put it all on one list, so here’s #2… these are songs that I do not recommend listening to when trying to write, not without a foreign substance involved (which I also don’t recommend), Again, this is strictly opinion, so don’t get mad if you see your favorite song on here… (If it is on here… seriously though!) 😉
System Of A Down – Chop Suey!
Know that one kid in college who used to blare an annoying song he loved over and over in his dorm room? I was the kid banging on his door yelling STFU because he wouldn’t stop playing this song. It’s not metal, but it’s heavy enough that I couldn’t drown it out, not even with Slayer.
This song is way too distracting for me to get any serious writing done. I never understood what people got from this. It has some impressive drums and guitar riffs, but that’s it.
Macy Gray – I Try
My wife insisted I put this one on the list. I personally don’t have a huge issue with it, but I can’t write to this song. Every time I hear it, it reminds me of a retirement home choir singing. Macy, I’m sorry… you sound like you’re in your 70s.
Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why
There is no talent here. I’m sorry, at least 12 other artists came out around the same time with similar voices. This song seriously puts me to sleep and is mindnumbingly repetitive. ‘Don’t know why I didn’t come…’ well probably because your singing put the guy to sleep so he wasn’t at his best.
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Circle
This song was all over the mix stations for a year or two after it came out and really… I can’t for the life of me fathom why. The singing is abysmal, the music is stupid, and the whole thing is just completely unlikable! I get mad when I hear this and turn it off within the first few seconds. I cannot write with rage-inducing music on.
Don’t Care (Original) by Daniela Andrade
This song would have likely slipped under the radar if it weren’t for the fact that YouTube played it as an advertisement during my playlist… so you can imagine, it took me out of what I was trying to do. Not surprisingly, I was not the only one as you can see from many of the angry YouTube comments. Thankfully the YouTube AD algorithms have gotten much better and now I get music that somewhat applies to me interrupting my playlist. Though the occasional rap song still sneaks in now and then. To be fair, that is how I first heard Metalite.
Amy Winehouse – Rehab
The song is bad enough melody and vocal-wise, but to be honest, it almost didn’t make the list as you could literally write pages about the irony of the lyrics…
Yeah someone should have tried harder to get her to go to rehab…
Nickelback – Rockstar
Yeah you knew that one of their songs was going to make it onto this list. These days its almost a required rite of passage for metalheads to hate on Nickelback. This song however… yeah this just proves that the band thinks WAY too highly of themselves. It’s a basic guitar tab that is corporate pandering and completely uninspired. You’re not going to get far writing with this in the background.
Hinder – Lips Of An Angel
I debated putting this one on here… the guitar work in the background is okay I guess… They’re sort of a slightly worse sounding Creed. My problem here is how many people (particularly women) liked this song when it came out. It boggles my mind every time I hear it. No one, again particularly women, should like this song! If they’re thinking clearly the initial thought should be ‘My girl’s in the next room, sometimes I wish she was you!?!? WHAT AN ASSHOLE!’
But Jim, they’re looking at it from the perspective of being the one on the phone.
Uh huh and how often does that work out?
Beyonce – Single Ladies
The amount of times she repeats the chorus line in this song is tooth-grindingly bad. This is the type of thing that bring creative writing to a halt.
Well that’s it. May do another one later on, for now… enjoy…
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
Okay, disclaimer, I know I posted this song before, but having recently recovered this version, I wanted to post it so everyone knows why I love this song:
This is my wife’s favorite movie but… I don’t know, for me its painful to watch. I actually mean that literally the horrible editing where they don’t hold a single shot for more than a couple of seconds throughout a good potion of the movie gives me a headache. The visuals are nice, but you barely get a chance to enjoy them. I’m also not a fan of Jukebox musicals. I never understood them. Write original songs or stop writing. I can’t imagine being okay with something I wrote being taken and performed out of context and without its original meaning in a musical that someone else wrote.
So perhaps its no surprise that the one part of this movie that I actually like… is the one song that is actually original. This is a rare gem in this movie.
So what’s the difference from the original?
Honestly, the last 40 seconds. Ewan McGreggor is replaced with far more powerful vocals for the finale. It sounds infinitely more epic. No disrespect to Obi Wan Kenobi, but the replacement really intensifies the end of the song.
When to listen: Two different places; the death of a loved one. When the hero experiences the loss of his partner in the story or a love early on. Secondly, the ending, as you’d expect. The good guy has won the day, the person he loves stands with him as they look over the horizon to the world they helped save/create.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
So we’re doing very well so far and it looks like the late November/Early December release of Drakin is still not unrealistic. We’re more than half way done with the editing.
We have completed all of the legal background to get the book off the ground; publishing rights, copyrights, formatting, etc.
The book will be available in hard and soft cover, as well as in digital format. I’m personally very excited, and I hope all of you are as well!
Book Synopsis:
‘ “Abomination, freak, monster…” You get used to names like these when you have yellow eyes, horns, and scales, but Raiya could have really cared less.
After being forced into exile because of her appearance, Raiya’s mind has been focused on one goal; hunting down the dragon lord that killed her parents. For over thirty years, humanity has been locked in a struggle for survival against a race of dragons that had fallen from the heavens. They took everything from her and consumed the planet in a fierce war. Humanity’s numbers are quickly dwindling, leaving her few options in the way of allies.
What she doesn’t know is that her journey will strike at the very heart of the Red War and uncover truths about her past that she may not want to know. Can she finish what she started while coming to terms with the truths of her origin? ‘
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
Okay, now that I’ve sufficiently bashed pop music in my last post… allow me to extend an olive branch to my readers who listen to said music:
The first song I head by Adele was ‘Rumor Has It’ and… yeah I wasn’t impressed. However my wife loves her. So obviously I was going to be subjected to more of her music. Most of it is serviceable and some of it actually good. Then this song came out… and changed my mind completely. At first it sounds like nothing special, but when it picks up and she hits the line ‘To Tell You I’m Sorry, for breaking your heart…’ it sent chills down my spine.
I’m not a fan of Adele in that I would listen to her songs regularly. They fall way outside of my spectrum, but this song… yeah I included it. It is definitely worth a spectrum jump.
When to listen: Tough call… For me this would be when the hero of a story is at a low point. Either when some key portion of their backstory is revealed where they’re not the shining star everyone thought they were… or they hurt someone they cared about and need to make amends.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
So for months, I’ve been sharing my writing playlist with everyone, particularly songs that I personally love that really have helped turn the creative wheels. Some songs are more responsible than others when I’ve written stories. Some songs are solely responsible for the main plot lines, while others have just helped stave off the writers block, and even more have just given me energy enough to keep going and finish the story.
These… are not those songs…
These are songs that are, IN MY OPINION, devoid of any creativity, are serious ear moths, or just tooth gratingly bad. So based on what works for me, these are songs best left alone. I’ll give you a small of them just for the fun of it. They’re in no particular order, so don’t think that I place any value on one over the other. Feel free to leave a comment as to whether you agree or not, but please don’t get mad if you see a favorite of yours on their. This is strictly my opinion and keep in mind, I don’t necessarily hate these songs, they’re just ones that, for me at least, bring the creative gears to a grinding halt.
Let’s get started…
Blah Blah Blah:
I know a few people who like Ke$ha as she was called and frankly… I don’t have a major issue with her, but this song is just all over the place. The lyrics are literally ‘Blah blah blah’ and the background music is just bad… really bad.
Going To The Chapel Of Love- The Dixie Cups
Okay, I genuinely despise this one. It’s an oldie… so its one most of our parents had to infect our earlobes with when we were stuck in the car with them… 80s kids, you all know what I’m talking about. This song get’s even more vapid as it goes on and the chorus line gets louder. Listen to the part where they sing ‘Gonna get Ma-ah-ah-rried’ against a toddler crying loudly… it’s remarkable how similar the two sound. That chorus line makes me grind my teeth to the point where I literally can’t write.
Hoobastank – The Reason
Maybe it’s because this song was everywhere to the point where you literally couldn’t get away from it at the time, but this one, I just can’t listen to when I’m writing.
You could have just turned the radio off.
You can’t turn off little siblings who continuously sing it and you can’t turn off the demo tape playing at work.
The whole song sounds like a complete whine-fest, and honestly, I never got why this is the song that most people know Hoobastank for. ‘Crawling in the Dark’ is to this day, one of the best highway cruising songs I’ve ever heard. In fact, most of that first album is infinitely better.
4 Non Blondes – What’s Up
I’m just going to say it, nothing good came out of the 90s… especially not acts that wished it was still the 60s. Aside from having one of the most annoying vocals on the planet, the lyrics are also mind-numbing. “I pray every single day for a revolution!”
… okay, a revolution of what? For what? None of that is really explained. Really she just sounds like one of those over-privileged college kids trying to emulate the hippies and failing miserably at it. As you can imagine, this band was a major one-hit wonder and thankfully not a very big one. Moving on.
Alanis Morissette – Ironic
I’ve never been a fan of Alanis. I don’t mind her personally and I will grant she was putting out some fairly consistent music that was at least tolerable for a while, however her voice always sounds like it’s straining and ready to crack. She has no vibrato and really… I wouldn’t call that talent. This song in particular, one of her early successes… am I the only one who noticed that virtually none of her examples can be defined as ironic?
Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
BRING ON THE TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS PEOPLE, I DO NOT CARE! Can I just say this straight up, I love Johnny Cash. His music is spectacular and his lyrical writing is some of the best I’ve heard in a while… but this song just drives me insane. I’ve never been a fan and it sounds like it belongs on a kids CD… though maybe its because I worked at a music store where the owner continuously played this song over and over for three days straight until the CD went ‘missing.’
Mumford and Sons – Little Lion Man
I hate these guys. The singing and harmony… if you can call it that, is terrible, the music is basic at best, the lyrics are bad, and I just… well yeah, that’s all you really can say. None of their songs are that great. Yet somehow I appear to be in the minority when it comes to these guys. People actually like them… heck, a radio station out here in Boston (WAAF) that typically plays hard rock, pushed this song hard. I never got that, especially given that they used to play everything from Static X, Rob Zombie, Slayer, and even some more extreme stuff… but then they start pushing this song… what the hell?
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
Yeah yet another one that I appear to be in the minority on. Their lead singer’s mono-toned vocals are more likely to put a person to sleep than actually inspire anything creative.
Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule – Ain’t It Funny
Tell me honestly, does anyone actually listen to this song? If so, please leave a comment below, I’d really be interested in knowing what you like about it. This whole team up between Ja Rule and Lopez infected the airwaves for a few years and really… I never got why. None of the songs that came from this were particularly tolerable, but this one was pretty much the worst. I can’t even get all the way through it.
Rein Xeed – Star Shine
WHAT!?
I know, I know, believe it or not, there are a few metal songs out there that I just can’t listen to when writing either. Rein Xeed is actually extremely talented and I love this guy’s music… but something about the way he pronounces words in some of his songs, I find to be especially grating. I know English isn’t his primary language and we shouldn’t dock him for that, but I’m sorry it’s just really distracting in his music. Other than that, I really do recommend him!
blink-182 – All The Small Things
I’ll admit to some bias here. I actually do like some of their music. Damnit was a big song for a lot of us in High School… However the progressive popularity of this band can be directly traced to the fall of Punk Rock. Blink 182 attracted a whole new demographic to Punk Rock and… as such… Pop culture. Country fans of today (those that have been fans since before 2005), can attest to this as it is currently happening to them. Blink 182’s Enima of the State signaled the beginning of the end. Bands like Bad Religion and NOFX were quickly replaced with ‘Good Charlotte’ and ‘Corporate Something’ when people mentioned punk rock. Thus, I find it impossible to write anything coherent when I hear this song… Which brings us to the next song on the list…
Simple Plan – Addicted
Pretty much only Beevis and Butthead and their fans would find this one amusing or entertaining. Seriously, can’t you see some little teenager listening to this song going ‘Uhuhuhuh, he said I’m a dick!’
This was a pretty low point for pop culture and the music industry in general. It really became pretty obvious that companies were functioning by the philosophy that ‘if you put shit on a stick and thrust it into people’s face enough times, they’ll buy it.’
There is nothing cerebral about this song. The lyrics are simplistic at best, my six year old can come up with better guitar tabs and… no I’m done. I’ve given this song to much attention. I’d sooner want to smash my computer screen then try to type anything I come up with from this song.
Kiss-I Wanna Rock N Roll All Night
Let me start off by saying that kiss is a great band. That being said, I never got why this song was so popular. They have so many great hits, why is this the one everyone remembers? There’s virtually nothing to it. It’s mind-numbingly repetitive, and just not very creative. I can’t get anything from this song when I sit down to write.
Dave Matthews Band – Stay (Wasting Time)
Remember when I said that nothing good came out of the 90s? Well… that can be said for pretty much every Dave Matthews and Bare Naked Ladies songs with the exception of ‘Where Are You Going?’
This song is especially annoying. Dave’s voice sounds like a pubescent teenager being strangled, the music is a disorganized mess, and 40 seconds this >4 Minute song his just the line ‘Makes me wanna STAY!’ repeated 10 times! It doesn’t make me wanna stay or write… it makes me want to punch something.
I think that’s torture enough for now. I’ll be happy to drop a few more later, but feel free to post your own recommendations or rebuttals in the comments.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
You may not be the right person to ask, but I thought I’d give it a shot. I’m writing a story about a long term relationship that also happens to be a long-distance relationship. However I’ve never had a long distance relationship work out. I want to write this so it sounds somewhat realistic, but it seems like the odds are staggeringly against such a relationship. Do you have any advice about how I could write my couple?
Thanks,
Lilly
Hello Lilly,
This question would probably be better suited to a relationship counselor or therapist… but I’ll do my best to help. I’m sorry to say, but what everyone is saying is correct. This is coming from someone who has been involved in two separate long distance relationships and watched both of them fail. I’m sorry to say, but I don’t have much experience in one that has succeeded for very long. So a long term, long distance, relationship (depending on your definition of ‘long term’) might be a hurdle for some readers to overcome. Mine lasted about 1.5 years at best, personally.
My advice to you is pretty much the same advice that I would give someone who’s entering into a long distance relationship. There are a few prerequisites that I would recommend before getting too serious:
Frequent communication: Don’t let your characters go for too long without talking to each other. Probably a few days at most, though I know some people would say 24 hours is enough. Maybe that’s a little clingy, but if you’ve gone for over a week without speaking to the person… without any outstanding reason such as work, then are they really together?
Establish a game plan: Okay obviously this isn’t something you’re going to do early on, that’s just psychotic. However, as things get more serious, if there is no plan to close the distance between the two of you, then likely you’re pretty much dealing with a pen pal, not an actual relationship. If the goal of the relationship is commitment and some kind of domestic partnership, there has to be a plan on the table.
Trust and lots of it: Relationships require trust. Long distance ones even more so. If one of your characters is constantly wondering whether the other is being faithful or get’s highly suspicious of a friend of the opposite sex, it’s going to crash and burn real fast.
There are more essentials out there, but these three are the biggest ones in my opinion. Honestly, you might do better having it an on again, off again, relationship… or perhaps an open one, though I’m not a huge fan of those. In any case, I’d say you’ve got quite a bit of work ahead of you to make this something this work. If your story is set in modern times, skype and other remote tools are going to be essential.
Hope this helps, but lets open this up to our readers. Does anyone else out there on wordpress have any advice for our friend Lilly here?
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
I want to talk today about a trope that lately has been driving me crazy. I call it the Perception of Beauty Trope, but perhaps it would be more like ‘the attractive guy gets the girl’ trope.
This has caused so many problems throughout the literary and movie world. Let me give you a few examples:
IT (2017)–
Pretty much the one thing that kept this movie from being perfect is the infuriating love triangle, especially for those of us who read the book and saw the original. Bev seems to go back and forth between Bill and Bev… and for some reason… Ben just kind of turns the other cheek the entire time.
I’m just going to come right out and say it, even in this latest installment, BEN AND BEV HAVE FAR MORE ROMANCE THAN HER AND BILL! However who get’s to spend the last few moments of the film with her and gets the meaningful kiss? Is it the kid she first connected with, the one who wrote her poetry… the one she ends up with in other mediums? NOPE! It’s the stuttering leader. Why? Because he’s the good looking guy. There is virtually no other reason for it. (And yes, I am FULLY aware of she does in the book, but that is irrelevant here.)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame –
Yes, I know what happens in the book, but both the ’39 and ’96 versions are such a departure from the novel that I barely consider them the same story. Again, considerable chemistry between Esmeralda and Quasimodo, but does she end up with the Hunchback? Heh, please… in the animated one she ends up with blonde knight captain while in the ’39 version, she ends up with a starving Poet who pretty much stood by while she was about to be executed. Again, pretty much just because they were the good looking guys.
Moulin Rouge –
For full context here, you need to watch both the original and supremely inferior Jukebox music version that came out a few years ago.
In the original, the star is a rather ugly (as Hollywood goes) man with a cane. In the remake, he’s replaced with Obi Wan Kenobi… and the movie goes downhill from there.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Ewin Mcgreggor. He’s a good actor who did the best he could with bad directing in Star Wars… but here… he doesn’t fit. This becomes blatantly obvious in the original version of the best song in the movie… ironically the only song actually made for the movie:
Fast forward to 4 minutes into the song. Ewin McGreggor is replaced with Jim Broadbent (Harold Zidler) for the final cut. When I asked my wife why, she said it was because he was the superior vocalist… well why didn’t they cast someone with said superior vocalist. You put that one together.
I see this in literature too and to be honest, I don’t get why. If it’s not appearance, it’s some other superficial feature. I can’t remember the name, but I read a story a while back with a character named ‘Keelig’. There was a love triangle between him, a girl, and another guy named ‘Chris.’ Right off the bat, I knew who was ending up with the girl.
Honestly, this is part of the reason why so many of my characters have very distinct names; Piero, Corbin, Giovanni, Tobias, and Raiya. I’ve found that characters with distinct names, personalities, and features are the ones that are most memorable. As such, I can’t figure out why the bland ones get the most attention.
So my advice for my readers is simple, pick a character. Do you care about that character? Do they have the most chemistry with the others? Then let that one get the happily ever after in the end. Ignore the topical issues.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
Since I’m on an action figure kick recently, I wanted to give my first impressions of an action figure I am fiercely anticipating.
Jaina Solo: Black Series.
Release Date 12/10/2017
A little history:
Hasbro, quite awesomely allowed people to vote for the next character that they wanted to see made into a figure. There were several finalists ranging from several mediums… but the majority pick was surprising. Based on what I’ve learned from some sources at Hasbro, they were taken a bit by surprise that people wanted a character from the now-Legend series, likely the only one.
To their credit, they didn’t back down. The fans said what they wanted, and Hasbro went to work… and so far the results look very promising.
I have mine pre-ordered, so I’ll post a full review when I receive her. On the surface, she seems like exactly what you’d expect from the Black Series; a fully articulated, high detailed figure with all the trimmings.
One major setback that the black series has always seemed to suffer from is the faces. I’m sorry, the Rey Jedi figure’s face seems a little too fat, Han looked okay except that he looked even older than he was… and Luke… well let’s just say that I finally have an action figure from the Big Lebowski. (I’m talkin’ bout the Dude here.)
However, in the case of Jaina, all we have on her appearance is the various descriptions in the books, the cover images… and this pretty bad ass fan-made video:
That is still one of the most badass fight scenes I’ve ever seen.
So of course Hasbro had some leeway and from what I’ve seen, she looks really good. I can definitely see Han’s less than series expression with Leia’s facial structure.
Any criticism… well… its personal preference really. I’d rather have seen her in her Jedi robes as we saw her in the Legacy Collection (which I also have).
So my initial thoughts are that it is arguably one of the best LOOKING figures in the black series thus far. The articulation looks like it may be hindered by the equipment she carries, but that’s to be expected. Her weapons and helmet look accurate to the series, and she’s one of the few figures with an off-colored lightsaber. I personally catch wait to add her to my collection .
I’d advise if she’s on your list, you preorder. I get the feeling she’ll be flying off the shelves in short order.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
I’ve been following your blog for a while and was wondering about the ‘From my Writing Playlist’ pieces you do. Maybe it’s because I don’t like the same music, but I’ve never found music especially helpful in my writing. Now that I’m suffering from writer’s block, I’m desperate to try anything. I read some of your other recommendations, but they only helped me for a little while. Now I’m back to square one. Can you help me understand how music translates to words for you?
Thanks,
Julie
Hello Julie!
Seems like you’re in quite a bind here. Honestly music doesn’t work for everyone and different people hear different things. For example, when I listen to Beast in Black:
It makes me happy and brews a story about someone who lost a love to a vicious evil. Years later, after suffering with her loss, he discovers she’s still alive and has to face down that evil to get her back. However you might hear something different.
Here’s what I want you to do…
Take a song that energizes you, one that really gets your blood pumping and makes you happy. Listen to that song twice. First time, really listen to the lyrics, then listen to the melody on the second run. Really focus on the melody and the notes. Then write what pops into your head. What does that song make you think of? Whatever it is, write it out and describe it in detail.
Once you have that all written out, go back and re-read what you’ve written. Next listen to a song that invokes sadness. Listen to it the same way said above. absorb the lyrics and then the melody. Close your eyes and let your mind wander. What’s the first thing that pops into your head? Write it down and describe every detail; every emotion, every thought, every scene. Use metaphor and alliteration when you do it. I want you to write everything out.
Don’t worry about not doing it right, there is no right or wrong way of going about this.
Then repeat with songs that invoke other emotions. Keep doing this until your mind begins flowing again with ideas. It’s what I call a mental jump-start. Once you’ve done this a couple of times, you should find yourself writing a whole new story out… or several new stories… or you’ve described something in great detail.
Either way, you should be able to write again, and you’ll have started the process of training your mind to brainstorm to music. Keep doing this and when you feel you’re ready, start listening to music while you write. This is how I write my novels.
I hope this helps, please feel free to email me if you have any further questions!
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
So as most everyone knows… I’m huge into action figure collecting. There are two big ones I’m waiting for. The first and perhaps most important is a commissioned one-of-a-kind action figure. See I love Skyrim… but let’s face it, the figures that came out from the game kinda sucked! All they had was a Daedric lord and a fairly generic Dragonborn. Yeah sign me up for that!
Well I sought to rectify that situation. There were two characters from the game I absolutely loved. The first was a custom character that I’d done some work on, known as Aranya:
My most badass elven follower. She has no magic but wields two cursed knives and a very powerful bow.
Obviously, no company is going to release a figure for a character that people modded into the game… so it fell to me to find a way around that. That’s when a google search revealed… what I can only describe as a master figure sculptor John Harmon.
The commission wasn’t cheap, good geeky things never are, but the results… well they speak for themselves:
Needless to say, I wasn’t done. The other figure I wanted was my other favorite follower. One that is actually canon to Skyrim and… well is either beloved by fans or hated by them. I personally love her and am a huge fan of her voice acting:
Yeah, I am in the fan of Serana camp. I’m anxiously awaiting this commission to come through. Don’t have any really good pictures to show yet as it’s not finished, but I can’t wait for John to send me the final product.
So what’s up with the whole ‘woes’ thing???
Sigh… well that’s the other figure I’m waiting for… As most of my readers know… I’m a huge Fire Emblem fan, so whenever something comes out related to that, I grab it… so a preorder of Corrin from Fates? I’m all over that!!
Oh yeah! I already have the Lucina one… so this one was pretty big for me! It looks absolutely amazing. The problem? Figma and the goodsmile company have a habit of taking FOREVER to put anything new out and also have an irritating tendency to delay releases, often multiple times!
This figure was set for release back in September, but it was quickly pushed to November… well it’s November and guess what? I get an email today that it’s pushed back to December. I seriously could have done without that today…
I wouldn’t mind so much except that this company NEVER gives specific dates for release. So even if it is released that month, you won’t know when until its on the way… unless I’m missing something. If anyone knows of a newsletter or something like that they send out, please let me know.
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.
Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!
James Harringtons Creative Work 