How NOT to Skate Through Revisions

06 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Animation, Perspective, Writing

Tags

Bambi, Elizabeth Fais, NaNoRevMo, Revisions, Thumper, Walt Disney Studios, Writing

This past year was a whirl wind of firsts, including a new job and blogging for the first time ever. I also started the final revision of my Work In Progress (WIP) — a Young Adult (YA) supernatural mystery. All good. It’s been terrific, really.

But… there was an itsy-bitsy snag in the midst of the newness. With all the new shiny things in my life, progress on my WIP revisions slowed to a negligible crawl. Which is why come November, when everyone else was NaNoWriMoing, I lead a NaNoRevMo Charge on revisions for my WIP.

It was great tapping into the NaNo synergy. I got back in the groove, and the revisions were going well.

And then … life happened. What’s that they say about “making plans is the best way to make the universe laugh. In your face.”? Well, the universe was rolling around on the floor laughing at me…

Because it played out something like this…

Well… ALMOST… I won’t bore you with the deets, but here’s the general rundown:

I had to trap and relocate an entire colony of feral cats, when the property where I’d been feeding them went up for sale. No small task, and especially stressful since I’d cared for these cats every day for more than 9 years.
All the while, I had to keep on top of deadlines at the day-job. Nothing new there. But trapping the colony of feral cats in my spare time left no bandwidth for revisions. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch.
To top that all off, a killer cold knocked me flat and bronchitis shoved me head first into the proverbial snow bank. Luckily, after the cats made it to their new home. Deadlines at the day-job still had to be met, and I got the job done! But progress on the revisions? None what so ever.
Finally… I started feeling better. And now…

I’m back in the groove & skating on through…

I’ve sailed well past the half-way mark of the WIP revisions, and can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yay, me! Since I’m driven by deadlines, real or self-imposed, to keep the momentum going I drew a deadline for final completion on the calendar. Then I started realigning priorities. I’m confident I’ll be able reach the finish line in a relatively short time. But that means … something’s gotta give.

Sadly, this blog has to go dark … for awhile

Only for a few weeks folks… And that’s not to say I won’t post a funny video somewhere along the line. *wink, wink* Just no substantial content, as I need to focus my full attention on my WIP revisions … for now.

I’ll be back after the revision break. Promise!

I have a great series of posts planned for the coming year. But before I can dig into writing those awesome articles, I have to finish this WIP, so I can hop on the Literary Agent Submission Train.

I’ll see you all in a few weeks on the other side of the deadline! I’ll miss you guys, but this Revision Interlude will pass before we know it! [Image credit: Wikipedia]

Animated Storytelling

17 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Animation, Characters, Story

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Animation, Bambi, Elizabeth Fais, Emotion Thesaurus, Frank Thomas, Lady and the Tramp, Ollie Johnston, Walt Disney

What animation taught me about storytelling…

I came to writing fiction through animation. Yep, I’m an animation geek, and proud of it! And as circuitous as my journey might sound … it’s not.

Good animation tells a story by showing emotion, the same as fiction. This image of Thumper (from Walt Disney’s “Bambi”) is a perfect example. You can tell Thumper’s been reprimanded by his slumped posture, his paws held behind his back, his ears laid back, and his head tilted downward.

Likewise, in this next image (also from Bambi) it’s obvious the two skunks are infatuated with each other by their posture, how they hold their hands and look at one another. Good storytelling immerses you in the lives of the characters, so that you feel what they are feeling.

The Walt Disney Studios developed the 12 principles of realistic character-driven animation back in the 1930’s. Those principles are still considered “standard” today. The Illusion of Life, by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, is an insightful read on the history of how these principles were developed.

Writing with Emotional Impact

Writing fiction is not the same medium as animation (duh!), so the techniques a writer must use to immerse an audience are slightly different from the keys to invoking emotion in animation. But not so different. Really. I ask myself the following questions when I begin a scene. These questions are surprisingly similar to the questions an animator must resolve when animating a scene:

What is the character thinking, and why?
What is the character feeling, and why?
How does the character express their feelings, and how does that vary with the different people in the scene?
What is the arc of the character’s reaction to the circumstances?
What are the character’s strengths and faults, and how do they manifest as a result of the circumstances?

When I understand what’s motivating a character and why, I can figure out how the character will react and what their feeling. I keep a copy of the Emotion Thesaurus handy to prevent myself from using worn out descriptions, or reusing the same ones over and over.

The Bella Note “Spaghetti Scene” in Walt Disney’s Lady and the Tramp is probably the best-loved scene in animation of all time. It became famous, because we relate to the characters’ feelings (even though they’re dogs). We feel their love for each other through their nuanced looks, expressions, and gestures. Magical storytelling in action! You can watch this remarkable scene here.