Book Review: The Know it All

A book review, final something that doesn’t have to do with The High School Author or Thespian Festival. Yes I know it’s a miracle, but I promise those blogs will return eventually but I finally finished a book called The Know-it-All by A.J. Jacobs, and I am going to say, this book is one of the most annoying, long and stupid book I have ever read.  The book is 385 pages of just boringness. 

Now don’t get me wrong the book does have some humor and interesting ideas but it is so boring that those brief things of humor can’t help you get through this book.

The Know-it-All is short is basically the story of a man’s journey to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, which is just as boring as it sounds. The one interesting thing that actually drew my attention to the book was how it was written. Each chapter was labeled with a letter, and there were definitions of a lot of the words that the author picked, so basically he wrote a dictionary. What I first thought was going to be a cool and interesting idea, suddenly turned into a struggle of a chore.

Yes like I said the book isn’t horrible, with a few redeeming factors, like a little humor here and there. But there is so much filler, that once you actually get to the humor you are either so worn out that you completely miss the joke, so bored that you just start skimming and miss the humor all together, or get to the humor and either don’t get it or do get it and maybe have a small chuckle. For a small chuckle it isn’t worth reading the book.

Finally there really isn’t a “Story” to the book. It is basically just a real telling of how a guy read 

through and understood the Encyclopedia. I mean if you include the little snippets of how he tries using the knowledge that he gains from reading the Encyclopedia in everyday life a “story” then yes there is, but it is an extremely boring story, personally I would have preferred watching paint dry then reading this book.

So in conclusion I personally would not recommend The Know-it-All to anyone. Personally it is just a boring book with a little bit of humor thrown here and there.  But I know there are a few people who will disagree with me so, if you have read this book and do think it is actually good then please comment below trying to defend this book, I would love to see why people think it is a good book.    

How to Write a Play/Book

How to write a play or book, yes I know it sounds so cliché and yes I know I did a very similar blog like this a few weeks ago, but after going to Thespian Festival I think this might help some people out. This blog will be what I think the basics are to writing a play/book so my ideas may or may not work for everyone.

      

      1.       Creating Plot.

Before you even start writing you need to know what you want to write about. This can be anything from sci-fi, fantasy, romance, mystery, horror, etc. but knowing what you are going to write about is probably the most important thing to do when starting to write a play.

      

      2.       Creating characters.

So since I have already done two blogs about this I don’t really feel like going into great detail on this topic but it is important. Using the techniques I talked about in my other blogs about creating characters, it is the second most important thing because without characters you don’t really have a story.

      

      3.       Creating a problem

I know this is basically creating a plot but this is going to go here for one major reason, the idea of a bad guy. Because yes it does have to deal with creating a plot, but it also has to deal with the character as well, because without the bad guy you are missing half of what makes a book/play a book/play, and yes the bad guy doesn’t have to be a person but it still can be.

      

       4.       Making Dialogue/ Lines.

Again already did a blog on this so this one is also so I am not going to go into extreme detail with this one, but dialogue is still important. Without dialogue you again still don’t have a story. You don’t have communication so nothing even really happens. Especially in play without lines there really isn’t anything there.

      

       5.       Creating a title

See this can go either here or at the beginning because you can either start with the title or end with it. It just really depends on what kind of person you are.

So that is all I have for you this time. Probably the next few blogs will be about Creating plot and Creating a title so do look for those. And finally I do hope that this can a help a few people out when it comes to writing. 

Playing God?

Yes another blog that is inspired by The High School Author, what else do you expect nowadays from me. Looking through some ideas for blogs this week I came across a blog on The High School author called Playing God. It talked about how writes are basically a god of their own world, and I total agree with the idea. When you are creating a new story, you create everything, the background, the characters and even what happens in the whole world. But one thing I feel The High School Author looked over was the dark side to this idea.

When making a story even though you are basically God there are certain things you can’t do. See, having complete control over the world you build is great and all because it lets you do what you want, but you have to stick to the world you create. What I mean by this is that when you create a world you have to stick by the rules you make. You can’t set a boundary to your world and then a little bit later completely destroy that boundary because it makes the plot cooler. Now if you give a certain reason why your boundary change like, you change worlds or change the people then it is fine. But when you set a definite rule for your world please keep to that rule.

Another bad side to playing God is sadly setting boundaries. See after you create your world and its boundaries you can’t go back on those rules and this can end up leading to a lot of problems. If you create your boundaries to thin then you have the chance of running into a problem and not being able to expand the plot any further, but you still have to think about the opposite. Make your boundaries to large then their most likely won’t be any problem that will stand in the way of your main character.

So when you are creating a story and “playing God” be careful of your boundaries and where you set them because once their set it is really hard to change them. Finally I do want to give a huge thanks to The High School Author, whoever they are has been a really big help so if you so somehow end up reading this I thank you for all the topics I have basically stole from you.      

How to Make a Great Character

     So this weekend I went to a thing called Thespian Festival. Thespian Festival is basically a giant convention for acting and you can learn many things at it. From the technical side of shows, to how you can correctly portray your emotions, there was a lot of things you could learn. One major thing I learn was how to make your characters better in writing. As someone who really enjoys writing I feel that after going through that seminar I can now make my characters a lot more realistic and personal. Now I know I did a blog post on this topic a few weeks ago but now that I have learned a lot more I feel like this post can help expand on that idea.

                

     Well there was really only one major thing the speaker really talked about and it was something he called the “Questionnaire”.  The “Questionnaire” is a series of 77 questions to ask about your character, but you have to act like you’re asking your character these questions and not yourself. These questions can range from simple questions like Age, Gender, Education, and things of that mater, to questions that might seem a little strange like Vocal quality, What do they look for in a partner, stuff like that to questions you probably have to think really hard about and don’t even make a lot of sense like, do they think wrestling is real, do they believe in UFO’s, or even what position do they sleep in. Finally you get to the hard question, questions that even you yourself might not want to answer like, who do they hate, what is their greatest fear, to finally what is there biggest secret.  

     Now I know some of these questions don’t make that much sense to ask, but if you think about there important. Even though the questions may not portray to the story, if you don’t know the answers to them, then you don’t know your character well enough. And if you don’t know your character then what is the point of writing. I personally believe that this idea of the “Questionnaire” is amazing because it helps you find things about your character that you may have never thought to ask. So I would like to make the list available for people, but I don’t know if I am allowed to put it on the internet, so instead let me give you an idea, make a list of questions to ask your character. These questions from anything, serious, funny, stupid anything just make sure you know enough about your character before you write.

Why Guys Should be in Theater

Also on my weekly reading I came across a post from Musical Theater and Other Things, and found probably one of the most interesting ideas for a blog post. The post was talking about guys in theater and me personally being a guy in theater I was drawn to it. The author mainly just talked about what roles males have played in famous play and I thought there was a huge idea that the author good have gone for, why guys should be in theater.  

As being a guy in my high schools theater department I have noticed a lack of guys trying out for plays. I mean yes you have the guys that always tryout because they will always get a role, but besides them not a lot of guys try of for plays. I think this is because of a few reasons, one major one is that guys might think it isn’t “manly” to be in plays and musicals but that is where their wrong. See there is a lot of “manly” things that guys do in plays. From drugs and violence in plays like Fame and Rent, to even guys watching prostitution in the musical Jekyll and Hyde. There are many things that are “manly” in theater.

Another reason why I think guys should be in theater is because that is the original idea. Way, way back in the time of Shakespeare women weren’t allowed to act in plays so all plays casted only guys, yes this means that guys did have to dress in drag for plays. But the reason why they did this is because no judge them and it is the same idea now.

Finally the last reason I believe that guys should be in theater just because it’s fun. Preforming for an audience just for their entertainment to me personally is one of the best things in the world. Another reason it’s fun is because you can meet so many new people, people from all walks of life. It’s just a good time.

So in conclusion I do believe that guys should be in theater. It’s fun and you can be “manly” as well. Now does that mean every guy should be in theater no, not everyone is fit for the stage. But I would say that you should at least try acting on a stage. You never know you might be good at it. 

That Old Reading Slump

Another blog Inspired by Pop Culture for Days, here we come.  So while I was doing my weekly read through of blogs I found a blog posted by my good friend Rowan, How to Get through That Reading Slump. I read through the post and thought about it a little, then came to the thought of hey I haven’t done anything with books in a while! So why not now!? But before I do start this post may sound a little similar to my getting over writers block post a few weeks back, because they are similar topics just so you know.

That “reading slump”, everyone has been there. You have just finished one of the best series you have ever read and then you think what’s next only to realize that it is the end. You get sad then have to trudge to your local library or bookstore to find the next new book to read. But when you get there you find that you have basically read everything that you know of. So what do you do? Well personally I have been in this situation way to many times to count and there is a few ways that I know that might be able to help.

                   

                   1.       Ask around.

I bet you go to a library or bookstore and can’t find anything good to read ask other people. People will come up with books that you didn’t even know existed, or will tell you about a book that you thought would be meh but is actually pretty good.

                   

                   2.       Look online for choices.

Now if option one doesn’t work for you because you are extremely anti-social or just don’t really care to talk to people, there is the internet. On here you can find book reviews on top of book reviews, even people make stories on the internet to tell people. But 2 things of caution. One be careful of what you search for, and two watch out for spoilers.

                   

                   3.       Look for something outside your comfort zone.

      If for some odd reason either option 1 or 2 doesn’t work the only other idea I have for you is try something new. Step outside in to new genres and see what there is to explore.

                

            Well that’s all I have for you this time, I do hope this helps most people who read it. And if for some odd reason none of these ideas work for you post your own ideas in the comments. Finally I want to say thank you to Rowan over on Pop Culture for Days for helping me out.  

Book review: The Dragons Series by Chris D' Lancey

                While looking for more topics this week I turned to my book shelf of way to many books for inspiration. While I was looking I found one of the first series I ever read, the dragon series written by Chris D’ Lacey. This was the first book series that truly blew my mind as a kid so what I am going to do is kind of take a trip down memory lane and tell you guys why these books truly left an impression on me.  

                The first real reason these books were amazing to me was because they were the first books that I read that were longer than 50 pages, the first book alone is over 300. Yes looking back now the books are obviously written for a younger kid and most of the books I could read in an afternoon, but to my eight year old self, these books were a type of entertainment that could last me up to three weeks.

                Another reason these books have such a huge place in my memory is for its story. Back in elementary school when I read these, most books were the same, they had similar plots of a hero had to save world, or someone was in danger, etc. But with the dragon series Chris D’ Lacey took this idea, threw it the trash and created something that just blew my mind. He used a completely normal person in one of the strangest situations you could think of, and showed you how he thought they would react, and as a kid it blew my mind. I know have been using that phrase a lot but it is the only way I know how to describe it.

                The final reason these books blew my mind was the ending. See when you’re in elementary school, most books have the same ending. The hero defeats the villain and everything goes back to normal, the end. But the dragon series, it didn’t do that. (Spoiler for the end of the series, but since this is a 14 year old series I hope you don’t mind because if you haven’t read it by now you probably won’t). From what I remember as a kid each book left you at a cliffhanger until the last book. And what doe Chris D’ Laney do, he kills main character. When I read that part as a kid I stopped and I’m pretty sure I was so mad because it changed the way books worked for me. But looking back it, it was a stroke of genius and it worked so well.

                Now that is where I end my story and most of you are probably wondering why I wrote about this. The reason I decided to write a blog about this is for one main reason. I feel that kids’ books now a days are to cookie cutter, there all the same and I feel that kids need a diverseness when it comes to books because if not what is going to entertain them?