To celebrate, here is the first sentence of the novel I just started writing:
“I’ve seen crime scenes that looked better than this dining room does right now.”
Thank you guys for all of your support!
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My Hopes for the “Joker” Movie
In just a few weeks’ time, Joker starting Jaoquin Phoenix hits the theaters and DC Black can finally begin. No more shared universes, no more routine comedy like the MCU movies. This is a chance to return to original storytelling and standalone movies that don’t feel like a cog in the clockwork.
As you can imagine, I have some very, very high hopes for this movie.
1) I hope it makes BIG money. Every fan of everything that has a movie made about it wants their movie to be a smash hit at the box office. Usually with comic book-inspired movies this is the case, but not always. Up until now, they have been made with massive budgets and all-Star casts that force the movie to have to make way more than its original budget in order to even break even. Joker was intentionally a low-budget film. At $50 million dollars, it was made with the amount of money most movies are expected to pull in on opening weekend alone. If Joker even has half of what a normal superhero movie makes by the time it’s pulled from theaters, that will be an eye-opener to everybody in the industry that the classic, character study film with tiny budgets still have the power to make some magic happen with movie-goers.
2) It teaches the rest of Hollywood the value of storytelling. As I’ve written multiple times in the past, I feel like Hollywood has taken several steps back when it comes to telling a good story. Remakes, reboots, sequels, and adaptions make up the vast majority of the studios’ output these days. It’s become very rare for an original story to be a success. Even the blockbuster hero movies have become generic and predictable. Joker may have an iconic super villain as a main character, but at least Todd Philips is doing something original with it. They are using Batman: The Killing Joke as a starting point but after that they are supposed to be off and doing their very own thing. Phoenix told interviewers that he did not look to any of the previous incarnations of the Joker when he was creating his own version. This shows that they are invested in originality, originality that is so lacking in movies these days. They actually are taking the “risk” and making the movie theirs and telling their own story. Other screenwriters, actors, producers and the like should learn a thing or two from this movie.
3) That is accomplishes everything it intends to. Phoenix has long wanted to do a character study based on a comic book character. As of now, it’s on point to achieve just that. He has turned down MCU roles such as Doctor Strange and The Hulk because he was not interested in reprising the role over and over and over again. Joker was meant to be one movie and one movie only. As always, though, I have seen a few little hints in articles that the makers of the movie would be open to a sequel, provided Phoenix agreed. NO! Not another series! This movie is supposed to be a stand-alone film. From what I’ve been reading, it was made with that in mind. Not every movie needs a sequel or needs to be part of this big-ass series. Tell a story and then get out. The DC Black is supposed to be a sort of anthology of darker, story-oriented content anyway. It’s a novel concept that shows tremendous promise. However, that can only work if they focus on that and not imitating what everyone else is doing. Do something worth having imitated, for once!
I know these are only three points but I kind of went on a bit too long about everything. I haven’t been this excited for a non-MCU/DCEU film in a really long time and I hope that revitalizes the movie business, which seems to have come to a standstill in recent years.
One can only hope…
Some News Updates For You People
I am once again officially active on Twitter. You can find me @JohnSiebelink. I’ve been linking up with different bloggers and authors and the number of followers is starting to skyrocket.
Hopefully that means that some of them will find their way here to this blog!
On another note, after conversing with some fellow writers all over Twitter I’ve decided to drop the “aspiring” from “aspiring writer” and officially consider myself a writer. I technically have published before, and I’ve begun writing hard every day like I wanted to. It’s something that I’ve wanted to be since elementary school, so I guess there’s no better time than the present to take the plunge.
I am a writer!
I have given myself a word count quota of 2,000 words a day minimum. This is much higher than any goal I have ever set for myself before, but I’ve slacked off for so long and I have so much learning and catching up to do that I have no choice but to start powering through and get the stories written.
This means that I will be posting my final word count on here every day. This is just a way for you guys to see that I’m serious about my writing and for me to “shame” myself into actually keeping with it this time. I have seriously decided to give everything I have into writing. I don’t think I’ve ever done that about anything, not even the Marine Corps.
I’m excited to see what this all leads to. Have a happy Monday, everyone!
Three Days, 6000 Words!
I’m going to bore all of you with daily word counts for a while. I have never been more serious about my writing in my life. I’m giving it everything I have this time. No excuse whatsoever is going to keep me from shelling out words into Microsoft Word.
I am averaging 2000 words a day the past few days. Today, I don’t want to stop so I think I will start a brand new project and let the words all add up.
Hoping to keep the magic alive and never stop.
Hmm… #1 (Politicians Who Seek Foreign Assistance)
So many Democrats are calling for Trump’s head after allegedly begging for the help of the Ukrainian President over the phone recently. In their eyes, asking for a foreign power to intervene in governance makes you not worthy of being in office anymore.
So does that mean that all of the Democratic candidates who were holding rallies in Mexico to Mexican nationals also should have the hammer smashed down on them?
And what about those in office now who were giving advice to illegal immigrants (also foreigners) about how to avoid the law here in the United States?
Hmm…
A New Feature For CrapPile!
As many of you long-time readers and visitors have noticed, I like to ramble on a lot. My posts tend to be a lot longer than what many bloggers write. This is all fine, well, and good since I’m a writer. I’ve been noticing, though, that for more of the really serious questions in life it’s better to keep it straight and to the point. Let our own minds come up with the answers. Not everything needs to be covered in an essay post.
Since there are a lot of questions I think people are not giving the time of day even though they should, I have decided to create a new featured series of posts on CrapPile.
Introducing Hmm…
This will be a series of extremely brief posts I put out periodically that asks the reader to stop and think about something for a little bit. All I will be doing is asking the question–I will in no way, shape, or form try to push toward one answer or another. That’s for you to come up with on your own. If I feel it’s warranted I may make a separate post and give my own thoughts on a particular question, but for the most part the Hmm… pieces will be one and done.
It will definitely be a weekly thing, more likely than not multiple times a week. What I cannot guarantee is a daily Hmm…
I don’t want to use up all the good questions at the beginning. Although with all the shit going on in the world, new ones keep popping up everywhere you turn your head…
First one will be up shortly. Let me know eventually what you think about these new little posts!
Two Days, Over 4000 Words Down!
Last night I made a mistake. When I pulled up the story I started last night, I realized I had actually written more than what I posted on here. I actually wrote 2000 words of the story. The first 2000 continuous words of fiction in MONTHS!
I decided to follow up with that by writing another 2000 words today. I wanted to write more but I felt like I was on a roll, and multiple authors advised to stop while you’re ahead. It’s supposed to keep you excited and motivated to pick up where you left off the next day without having to worry about writer’s block since you know exactly how the story is going to go. I haven’t been the best at taking other’s advice, but I figured this one was sound enough to give it a try.
If I keep up with 2000 words a day I think it will still take me a few days to finish it, but if my new job and class work get in the way it will take longer. But at least I’ve pushed myself out of that long-ass lazy streak I was in and I’m being productive once more.
I’m dead serious. I am putting my heart and soul into writing from this day forward. No more quitting, no more breaks. Just more and more and more stories. More and more and more blog posts.
Maybe a book now and again if I get really lucky…
