Here's a tip. - TTLG Forums

june gloom on 24/7/2009 at 03:14

Oh goddammit Queue. I like how you only concede a point when someone else makes it.

And what's wrong with referencing Saddam Hussein? That's not pop culture. That's world history. That'd be like calling a book referencing the Stalin regime "pop culture." You're completely missing the point of that scene, and getting all hung up over a few lines in a short story. I didn't actually go and make the WHOLE STORY like that. Why is this so hard for y- no wait, you've been drinking, of course you're dumber than usual.

I give up.

Tocky on 24/7/2009 at 03:16

Gone With the Wind.

Quote Posted by Queue

The last refreshing zombie story was Shawn of the Dead, which poked fun at zombie movies and made a statement about the human condition.

Somebody hasn't read "World War Z" I see. It covered the geopolitical/cultural side of the epidemic in documentary fashion and was a gripping read as well.

june gloom on 24/7/2009 at 03:18

I devoured that book in about 2 days. Fastest I've ever read a book of that size.

Queue on 24/7/2009 at 03:18

Oh don't go away mad. Here have beer.

*rings a bell for Tocky*

Queue on 24/7/2009 at 03:20

I'll have to give it a read. To be honest, I've never heard of it.

Muzman on 24/7/2009 at 03:35

It's pretty cool for the most part, but it's not a literary classic by any means. The politics, cynicism, characterisation and psychology is pretty rote and doesn't get much above "Haha! Cute." rather than being particularly insightful and detailed (in other words it's a bit like a lot of typical zombie film fare scaled up, rather than a revolution). It's too obsessed with factoids of survival (or failing to survive) and practical zombie combat*. Which is fine (he did write the Zombie Survival Guide after all) but eventually becomes Tom Clancy's Zombie Tommorow after a certain point.
Worth a read though.

*(I'm just mad because it scooped me on half a dozen things).

Tocky on 24/7/2009 at 03:39

Oh it had it's faults, for one I think it overestimated our ability to organize and deal with such an outbreak and for another it had a few moments of sentimentality but overall it was spot on about the spread of such a pandemic. The bleakness of the situation was outstanding though I could have stood a few more instances of total breakdown mentally. The toll it would take would have to be staggering. I particularly liked the pilots story.

edit- It didn't use my zombie killing station idea Muzman. WWII was won by industrial output and the implimentation of small factory style meatgrinder/conveyorbelt/fortess systems seems obvious to me. Hmm not enough time to do it I reckon. Plus the organization thing while your arm is being chewed off.

oudeis on 24/7/2009 at 04:25

Dethtoll, you need to stop lashing out at people who aren't attacking you. There is a difference between critique and criticism and so far in this thread you have only been critiqued. If you are at all serious about being a writer you should learn to tell the difference. Also, as a writer, you should be more restrained in your use of various forms of 'fuck' to emphasize your statements if you are trying to be serious or to make an important point. All of us here swear like soldiers, but it is debased language and lends no weight to your arguments.

From what I understand, most 'serious' writing programs frown on genre fiction. I know two people who went through Northwestern University's creative writing program and they were explicitly told no Syfy :p or fantasy works would be accepted. So, as obnoxious as your professor might have been, he was acting in accord with the mainstream.

Ultimately, anything that you/we can say about another's work boils down to one simple statement: "I would have done it differently". With that in mind, I would have used fewer brand-names in your opening sentence and gone into more detail about how dirty, cracked etc the boxes were. The female character could have identified them for us when she noted how much she loved the Turtles and hated the Joes, etc. And so on, and so on, yadda yadda yadda. I make no claims to expertise or talent, I'm just giving you my opinion.

For all you WWZ fans:

(http://fangoria.com/home/news/9-film-news/3240-new-screenwriter-takes-on-world-war-z.html)

Muzman on 24/7/2009 at 04:41

That is the problem with being the aftermath story I guess. These people all made it, to one degree or another. Probably need to tell the tale of a rehabilitated zombie wannabe (whatever they were called).
They didn't go much into the details of whatsisname's plan, that I can recall, except that it involved sacrifice the populace/use them as bait:save the military. A factory at that point would be pretty good. Still, organisation I guess. (they didn't go into much detail on the wholesale revolt that would cause either except for the mention toward the end of very hostile enclaves forming).
Anyway, the pilot story was cool (although I didn't like her much, or the "twist", but it was vivid). The Atol was good too.

edit: I hope the movie never gets made, myself. But I'm biased. I remember Straczinski saying it was a big conspiracy thriller and I was like "Uh, where? The propaganda movie story maybe". Now they bring on a conspiracy writer. I bet the money spent so far is dwarfed by any number of never-made films too (you bring on a big name/price writer to help garner investment as much as anything else). Commenters are worried about dumbing it down, when it's not all that smart to begin with. Just smarter than the average zombie story. Oh well.

On the off topic: a no pop culture rule is, to my mind, like a no voiceover or "don't write what can't be photographed" rule in screenwriting. It's useful exercise to force students to imagine a bit harder. But it can't be gospel and sooner or later everyone should notice that all the classics fail at these things and they're used routinely by pros.

Koki on 24/7/2009 at 05:35

What have you done with this thread you goddamn nerds