As far as ‘branding’…do you want to be famous, or do you want to contribute something to this world that is honest, has integrity and truly moves and inspires, even if it means you don’t have all the exposure, tons fans or McMansions? Personally, I write to write and in hopes that-if I’m lucky-I’ll inspire someone else to do their best to make their little corner of the world a bit better. If I do that with one person, I’ve already won…at least in my opinion.

“Do what you want and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

I’ve found your writing to be thoughtful, enjoyable and yes, a bit inspiring. I might actually do some writing of my own after lunch. Just be you. Don’t stress so much about whether or not you’ll make enemies or any of that. Personally, I’ve always felt that if you didn’t have at least a few people hating on you, you weren’t trying hard enough.

Keelah Se’lai!

~D.

I think it’s true that most people don’t care about these details, but I think it’s a simplification to say they just want explosions. People want emotion, drama, and feeling. This film is full of emotional scenes, and I’m loathe to say they are invalid. After all, if a scene triggers an emotional resonance with the audience, that’s really all that matters.

The more I write, the more I think about writing, the more I think plotting itself is almost irrelevant. I’ve always thought this to some degree. Writers worry a hell of a lot about stuff readers just never think about. And I don’t know if the audience cares if a scene makes sense in a broader context as long as it works in the context of an individual scene.

It goes back to a previous post I made about “Outsider Artists”. For all the time and effort an artist might spend trying to impress fellow artists, the audience is what matters. And the audience doesn’t really seem to give a damn about a lot of things that might bother me, as an artist.

They aren’t wrong for not caring either. They can’t be wrong. The audience determines the validity of any art, though it isn’t unusual for consensus to change over time, one way or the other.

Regardless, I’m pretty solidly convinced that a plot that makes coherent sense is far less important than a story where emotional buttons are pushed. And it’s something I think worth acknowledging without judgment.

Anyway, I didn’t like the first Star Trek. It was maybe a nice popcorn movie, but there were too many things that were dumb. How can you build a huge starship on the ground–in Iowa no less! (Just like in this second movie, how can a STARship go underwater?) Why would you promote a kid from a reprimanded cadet to captain of your fleet’s flagship? (And then you wonder why he’s arrogant and breaking rules!) I think it’s like you say; these things happen because the writers and director think they’d be cool and don’t stop to consider the illogic of it. They need to think a little more like Vulcans I guess. But I suppose most people like it because they just want things to blow up and not really think any deeper than that.