MCS #2: A Goofy Movie

A Goofy Movie (1995)

The girl Max has a crush on, Roxanne, asks him if he wants to watch the Powerline concert with her. He agrees, and then his dad, Goofy, announces that they are going on a father/son camping trip during the concert. In an effort to impress Roxanne, Max tells her he’s going to the Powerline concert and will dance with the group. There’s only one problem, that’s not quite the truth.

Can you say win? I can, and this movie is full of it.

Max: “Dad, it’s Bigfoot!”
Goofy: *looking through a camera* “Could you back up a bit, Mr. Foot. You’re out of focus.”

The “goofy” in the title pretty much says it all. This movie is laugh after laugh. It also has some serious parts, too, and those serious parts are what make it more than just another ha-ha movie. Max and Goofy learn a lot about what it means to be family. While stranded on a log floating downriver, they sing a great song called “Nobody Else but You” that captures everything about what a good parent/child relationship should be.

Speaking of songs, can I just say that Powerline’s stuff is amazing. I can’t say how many times I wished this song would come on the radio when I was in elementary school…and middle school…and high school…and college…all right, and now.

That’s what I’m talking about, and the scene during the song is just awesome, too.

And then there’s this guy.

“It’s the leaning tower of cheesa.”

Oh yeah.

Bonus Points: Anyone remember the Goofy Movie miniseries? Pete’s RVs and such. There was a spelling bee episode where Max and Goofy competed against each other. Every time the moderator asked Goofy to spell a word, Goofy spelled “boat.” Finally, he’s asked to spell “boat.”

Goofy: “b-q-z-z…and another q-t”

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Writer’s Lockbox

Let’s talk about ya romance. A Goofy Movie is the perfect example of how to do ya romance without the dreaded love triangle of doom (ah, the doom! lol). Max and Roxanne are adorable. There’s really no other word for them. And what’s keeping them apart? A concert—simple. It’s a series of teen mistakes—lies and half-truths followed by Max confessing. It’s a happy ending, and it’s a fun process. The issues are believable for high school kids. People, take note.
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Check out last week’s post: 101 Dalmatians

And join me next week for Aladdin.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

Secondary Character Appreciation...Few Weeks (2/3)

Good Wednesday,

Welcome to Secondary Characters part 2.

First, I promised to go over last week’s question. Let us begin there.

I gave three characters: Bob Cratchet (A Christmas Carol), Haymich Abernathy (The Hunger Games), and Igor (Frankenstein). Then I asked you to place each in a category of secondary character—light, moderate, deep.

Here’s how I saw them.

Haymich Abernathy: deep
Deep characters are a) possessing of fleshed-out, shown backstories, and b) are important (maybe integral) to the main plot of the story
I see Haymich as a deep character because his backstory is indeed shown. In CATCHING FIRE, we see Haymich from twenty-five years ago—a game victor. We also see that he, like his two protégés, is not one to bend to rules. In MOCKINGJAY, we learn that his family and girlfriend were killed for the stunt he pulled during the second quarter quell and that he took up drinking to deal with the world.
As time goes on, Haymich also becomes more and more important to the story. In THE HUNGER GAMES, he is the mentor figure and not too prominent a role. In CATCHING FIRE he becomes a teacher, friend, and confidant for Katniss. By MOCKINGJAY he has taken control of a segment of the story—this seen at the end of book 2 when he reveals the plan to destroy the arena and rescue Katniss.

Didn’t have Haymich as deep? He grows into the part. And this is an important point to make. Secondary characters in a series may change their role from book to book. In THE HUNGER GAMES I’d argue Haymich is moderate. By the end, though, he’s flying the deep flag high and proud.

Bob Cratchet: moderate
Moderate characters are a) possessed of moderately fleshed out backstories, and b) somehow important to the plot.
If someone asked, you would probably be hard pressed to come up with a character more important to Scrooge than his faithful clerk. From the office to Christmas yet to come, Cratchet is affecting our beloved/not-so-beloved main character. But I wouldn’t go so far to classify Bob as deep.
Let’s break this down. Bob is important to the plot but no more important than the shadows of Christmas past, the other shadows of present, or the shadows of future. All three work equally to let Scrooge make his miraculous change.
But Bob’s backstory, you say. Is present backstory? I’d argue no. Even when Bob’s story is in the spotlight, it is only the here and now.
That here and now is extremely important, though, which leads me to my reasoning for placing Bob in the moderate category. I do not believe there are any deep secondary characters in A Christmas Carol. Scrooge doesn’t let anyone get close enough to be deep. Bob is certainly the closest. I wrestled with him for a while, but I’d file him moderate.

Igor – light
Light characters are a) possessed of an important “here and now,” and b) more often important to subplots.
This is going to be a very short analysis. Igor. He’s neat, but he’s light. Lol

Had different answers? It’s okay. Like everything else in writing, this is a set of guidelines. I’m not the final authority on secondary characters. People see character’s differently. I believe Bob Cratchet is moderate for the reasons above. Disagree? As long as you can back up your answer, that’s fine.

Mary, that’s great. How do we use this?

Man, you’re the best students ever—always asking the right questions at the right time.

It’s time for some practical application.

The Eye Patch Example

How much “screen time” does each level of secondary character get? How much does the protagonist/reader need to know about them?

To answer these questions, I propose the use of an eye patch. (No, not pirates…well, maybe pirates.) What does this do? Let’s take a character who has an observable quirk (the eye patch) through the three levels of secondary character-dom and see how that eye patch changes the character’s role at each stage.

-Light – The reader/protagonist knows one thing about the observable quirk. The eye patch has one defining quality, as it were. Perhaps it itches.

-Moderate – Now the reader/protagonist knows what happened. We know why the secondary character has this observable quirk. He has an eye patch that itches. Perhaps it itches because secondary character lost his eye.

-Deep – Now protagonist/reader knows the secondary character lost his eye. Either the character has relayed that information or the protagonist (and by extension, the reader) was there. Heck, the protagonist may have been responsible for secondary character losing his eye. The protagonist may be the only one who has seen secondary character without the eye patch. Even more, to get back to what deep characters are, this eye patch may play a crucial role in the story. Perhaps there is some funky, futuristic eye scanner that protagonist and secondary character can bypass if secondary character uses the eye patch. Getting past this scanner allows them to save the dragon in distress from the fire-breathing damsel. (Like how I combined sf and fantasy there? Me, too.)

Activity Time

Now, try it yourself. Pick a trait from the list below (or make up your own) and “eye patch out a character.” Feel free to leave your response in the comments. I’ll provide feedback.

-water breathing
-peg leg
-bionic hand
-can shoot lightning bolts from eyes
-has devil horns

Join me next week for the final installment.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

MCS #1: 101 Dalmatians

101 Dalmatians (1961)

IMDB BLURB
When a litter of dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.

Puppies!

Lots of puppies.

And I really want to know what kind of sick woman thinks skinning dogs is okay.

Apparently Cruella De Vil (cruel devil, for anyone who’s slow like me and didn’t figure this out until years later. Don’t look at me like that. I never gave it much thought) does.

This movie is adorable. There really isn’t any other way to describe it. There are a bunch of lost pups trying to find their way home. It’s a journey plotline. (My MFA tuition at work, there.)

Seriously, I learned quite a bit from this movie. Aside from not to trust strange men who show up at your door with a sign that misspells electric, there’s a lot of family-oriented stuff in this movie. Take care of your own and they’ll take care of you. Sitting in your house all day makes for a lonely existence. I gest, but don’t let people into your home. Don’t trust everyone who has a semi-convincing story to tell. (Not that Jasper and Horace were semi-convincing, but you know what I mean.)

It’s these kinds of classic films that remind me what Disney is all about. I’m glad this one came first in the lineup. It’s a good place to start. It’s the perfect mix of old and newer Disney, and it has 101 built-in reasons to smile.

Moment of Digression – Did anyone else own the play-along-with-the-movie computer game? I had it on Windows 98, I believe. Talk about the Stone Age. Anyway, I need to mention the segment where the Dalmatians all roll in the soot to disguise themselves as black labs. This was my favorite scene in the movie. It was great. After forever of traipsing through the snow, hiding, and generally being exhausted, the puppies get to play. And not only do they get to play, but they have mom and dad’s approval to get dirty. Every kid’s dream.

This segment in the game, however, was far from entertaining. For those who don’t know, the puppies got disguised through the following method. Player clicked on the pile of soot, and the mouse turned into a smaller pile of soot. The puppies then came on screen (one at a time, mind you), and you clicked on each of them with the soot pile. It colored the puppy black, and said puppy ran to the truck.

This had to be done for 99 puppies.

That’s 99 times.

I was five (eight at the oldest). What five, six, seven, or eight-year-old has that kind of attention span? I didn’t, but I did color all 99 puppies once. I was curious. I was rewarded with the following exchange set to a black screen.

One puppy: “Are we all here? Guys, count off.”

All the other puppies in unison: “One.”

Writer’s Lockbox

I started this a while ago, and it sort of died. Well, I’m bringing it back for MCS because I’m a writer, and I blog about writing. Disney movies can be related to writing. So each Saturday I will end with one thing the given movie can teach us about the craft.

For 101 Dalmatians, it is suspense and action. This movie moves. Puppies are kidnapped (boom). Search begins (boom). Puppies try to escape (boom). Mom and dad come in at the right moment—in an awesome scene—I might add (boom).

And on and on. This movie hits all the beats. You’re sitting on the edge of your seat till the very end. You want these dogs to get home, and you want to see that wanna-be-dog-skinner-woman lose.

That’s what I’m talking about, people.

Join me next week for A Goofy Movie.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

Secondary Character Appreciation...Few Weeks (1/3)

Good Wednesday,

As a 5 (fifth-res student) at Seton Hill, I was required to give a forty-five minute teaching presentation on a topic relative to writing. I chose secondary characters, and since my presentation went well, I will now share what I learned with the internet. Because that’s how I roll.

Let’s get started.

Writing a Well-Rounded Cast of Secondary Characters

Dumbledore is to Harry Potter as Obi-Wan Kenobi is to….

***---***

If you said Luke Skywalker, you would be correct. (Sorry, people who said Chewbacca.)

Excellent, you know this. Now why do you know this?

I’ll wait.

***---***

Done?

Okay.

You know this because Dumbledore and Obi-Wan are both memorable, well developed secondary characters who perform specific roles in the story.

What’s a secondary character?

I’m so glad you asked!

Secondary characters are characters in a story who perform the following functions:
-support the main characters
-help main characters drive the plot
-play a variety of different roles to the main characters

But be that role mentor, friend, or partner in crime, all secondary characters need to be memorable and realistic. And they need to interact with the main character as people in real life do. After all, we don’t know everyone in our lives equally, and not all people in our lives help us through each episode we face in the same way/amount.

To illustrate this concept, I created three types of secondary characters. And here they are with examples from Harry Potter.

-Light second (McGonagall) – A light character’s “identity” (who they are) is somewhat important to the story, but their here and now is all that really matters. These characters may have a moment or two where they interact with the main plot. It’s more likely, though, that they’ll interact with subplots.

-Moderate second (Neville Longbottom) – This is the center “catch-all” category. Moderate seconds’ backstories are fleshed out to varying degrees. Actions and context clues give an idea of who the character is. These guys interact with the main plot and are important for the story in varying ways/degrees.

-Deep second (Snape) – These guys are almost primary characters. Their backstories are fleshed out for the reader to see, and they are important (maybe even integral) to the main plot.

Let’s try this.

Below are 3 characters. Which category do you think each falls into? Feel free to drop your guess (and reasoning, if you’d like) in the comments. I will go over them briefly next Wednesday before moving on to Practical Application.

Bob Cratchet – A Christmas Carol
Haymich Abernathy – The Hunger Games
Igor – Frankenstein

Ready, go.

And join me next Wednesday for more secondary character fun.

Thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
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10 Things I Learned About SHU

I am not too proud of that title. (Ok, maybe I am. Just a little. … Shut up. )

Anyway, hi, people.

Another residency gone, and another post-residency get-back-in-touch-with-the-world survived. That makes time #5, which means…yes. Only one more.

I may cry now.

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K, didn’t cry, but I will. Give me time.

I won’t dive into how much the program and the people in the program mean to me. Then I will cry, and that’s best left for after the final res. Instead, I’ll take a stab at light-hearted and list ten things I learned this res.

1. Showing up a day early is actually a really good idea, especially when one decides their teaching presentation needs final, minor, changes the day of orientation.

2. I am not as terrified of the horror genre as I previously believed. Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 and a friend’s thesis reading taught me this.

3. I stand out, apparently. People I’ve spoken to once or twice know who I am, and I don’t really understand that. I also feel very awkward when they say “Hey, Mary! How are you?” and I’m left standing there wondering who I’m talking to. (Joys of legal blindness and such.) 

4. I can, in fact, write science fiction. It just takes a lot of brain/will power.

5. Evenings with writers are some of the most fun, entertaining, interesting, amazing times I’ve had/will ever have.

6. People can surprise you.

7. Magic, ritual, and religion take a lot of work to create and use well. I’m willing to put in the effort. And that’s a good thing. (Or is it?))

8. “Candle in the Wind” can be very inspirational if the lyrics are recited in the right way.

9. The Game of Thrones theme song can be warped in the most hilarious way possible.

10. To everyone who has graduated since I began the program in January 2012, I miss you. It gets a little harder to let you go every semester. This past class…I don’t know what res will be like without you in June, and I’m not sure I want to know. But like our word counts that march on, unstoppable, toward “The End,” life and time move forward. June will come. I’ll find out, and then I, too, will leave those behind me to fill the slot of “soon to be gone.” The class behind them will then fill the slot of “holy crap, we’re next, The 6s are leaving.” And so on it will go into infinity (or until the cycle is stopped by unforeseen circumstances). There are no words. Just know that you’ve left your mark—each and every one of you who has graduated. And know you will be missed, remembered, and cherished.

And I said I wasn’t going to get emotional.

*deep breath*

Think I’d better stop there. SHU, thanks for another week of awesome. I will see you in June. Till then, I will whip this thesis into shape for final deadline, and I will pass my other two classes. I will do this because it is “do or do not, there is no try.”

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ANNOUNCEMENT

2014 has begun, and I have survived res. I want to be more active. You may have noticed the existence of a new page at the top of the blog—My Animated Movies. That’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a list of all the animated movies (Disney and otherwise) I’ve seen. I’m dedicated, or crazy, or both.

Starting this Saturday and for every Saturday until I’ve done them all, I will do a brief (or not-so-brief) post about the movie. There will be humor. There will be animated philosophy. Most of all, there will be blasts to the past and, hopefully, a new way to appreciate all that animated movies do for us.

Join me. I begin Saturday with Disney’s 101 Dalmatians.

NOTE: If you previously read this post and would swear up and down it said Friday, you would be correct. What I get for writing blog posts while still sleep deprived from residency. I was originally going to do Friday. Then it dawned on me that Saturday morning was the time for this—in honor of Saturday morning cartoons and such. So I’m officially calling this series CMS (Cartoon Morning Saturday), and it all starts tomorrow.
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As always, thanks for reading.

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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-Kit ‘N Kabookle
My book blog

Off I Go into the Wild Blue Yonder…Again

Greetings,

It’s that time of year again. That time of year when I go to PA for a week, party (cough) hang out and learn with my fellow writers, and then return sleep deprived.

Translation: I leave for my second to last Seton Hill res tomorrow.

Yeah, second to last. Where did the time go? I was a “1” last week. K, I wasn’t because I was revising my 100,000+ word thesis last week, but still. Time, gone.

Critiques are done. Read Joe Hill’s NOS4A2. This semester I get to do a teaching presentation. My brain is pretty prepared. My stomach is not. I’ll be giving a 45-minute “lecture” on writing realistic, well-rounded secondary characters. I use the term lecture loosely because my students will be moving around and talking and such. Either way, if the entire thing goes well I’ll share my info.

And now I leave you for a week. Do not cry. I shall return. And not to cut the goodbye short, but I’ve still got a ton of stuff to do today.

Until later,

Mary
@desantismt on Twitter

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My book blog

Wording It Up for 2014

So the trend this year seems to be not to make New Years resolutions. Instead, the thing is to pick one word for 2014, one word you want 2014 to be.

I’m stuck.

Go figure. I would get stuck on one word. I use several of them daily (being a writer and all), but I can’t decide on one word for 2014.

At least I’m only stuck between two. Help?

Productive or fun?

I like both. I want 2014 to be both. But I feel like I have more control over fun. I can make fun. I can participate in fun activities with those around me. I can say “let’s go to the movies/play a board game/hang out and talk.”

By contrast, I can’t say “let’s get my book finished.” I have to do that on my own. And it’s a lot more work.

I also can’t say “let’s get this book published by [insert big-name publisher] this year.” That is, outside of sending the query, out of my control.

It’s looking like productive is going to be my word for 2014. I want the year to be productive. It’s something to hope for. By contrast, I want the year to be fun, but that’s something I can make happen.

Though, I suppose I can make productivity happen to a point, too.

Then again, I could always combine them to make funductive…but that just doesn’t sound right.

What’s your word for 2014?

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If you haven’t, join me at my book blog, Kit ‘N Kabookle, for a new year of discovering awesome books!

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