Antony Johnston Quotes
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I like SF environments that seem used, and lived in, every day; not just rolled off a props truck. Look around you! Everything is scuffed, scratched, dinged, faded, even rusty.
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What works for one writer may not work for another. There are as many methods as there are writers. Were you to live to a grand old age, you would still never have enough time to try them all.
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The Purple Man helps Matt understand that his powers are unique, and maybe he is cut out for the hero biz after all. And Mr. Fear challenges Daredevil's very philosophy; how does a Man Without Fear deal with a man who induces terror in everyone he meets?
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The general public has been conditioned to think 'comics = superheroes' for as long as caped crusaders have been around - by critics, mass media, and Marvel and DC themselves, who have what you might call a vested interest.
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When I'm back at my computer, and/or have more time to deal with the project than when I made the initial notes, I transcribe them into a Scrivener document. I create a new Scrivener file for every project, right at the start, and make a folder for these transcribed notes; when entering them, I title each note document according to date.
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As we were developing 'Umbral', and I was delving into the mythology and legends, I had a sudden realisation. 'Wasteland' is about people who fervently believe new myths and legends, but they turn out to be false; whereas 'Umbral' is about people who reject ancient myths and legends, but they turn out to be true!
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I enthuse about Scrivener to all of my friends. Some of them even listen to me and download it. This is often swiftly followed by an email complaining that it's all very confusing, and they'll stick to Microsoft Word, thanks.
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Anyone can sit down and write two pages of a novel, then forget about it, and a week later write five pages of a screenplay, then forget about it, and a week later start another novel... etc, etc.
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Journalists constantly ask Metallica if the success of their new album means they've had 'the call' to record a Zeppelin cover album yet.
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There are many ways to improve your writing. Here's the bad news: 1.They all require hard work. 2.There is no magic bullet.
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A 300pp novel can easily become a 200pp novel by printing with smaller type; a 100pp screenplay can potentially become a film of between 60-140 minutes in length; a 200pp stage play could be performed in anything from 30 minutes to four hours. For all these media, the script length is agnostic to the final work.
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Writers are a superstitious cowardly lot, and we loathe learning new computer applications to do something that, let's be honest, we could accomplish equally well with pen and paper - especially when that application is as unconventional as Scrivener.
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I've always loved 'lived-in' sci-fi. We take it for granted now, but it was a revelation in the late '70s - '80s, when movies like 'Alien', 'Escape From New York', and even 'Star Wars' introduced us to the idea that the future could, in fact, look old.
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It is easier to rewrite anything - even the worst writing in the world - than it is to write something from scratch.
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Every Shania Twain interview ends with someone asking, 'Which Beatles album have you always wanted to cover, given the chance?'
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Scrivener can be a tricky beast to get your head around. When you do, a bell rings, and suddenly it all seems perfectly clear. But to reach that stage you have to understand what it can do, and try it out for yourself. Which can be daunting.