A Nerd’s Menagerie: Nerdy Inspirations

A collection of things for nerdy fans. You’re welcome. 🙂

Nerds ‘R Us – Literary Week: Kristin Bates

This week on Nerds ‘R Us: Literary Week we are featuring Kristin Bates, a fellow nerdy lady, lover of sci-fi/horror and an imaginative writer! My nerdy lovelies Jaime and Rachel had the pleasure of interviewing her this week. 

A Nerd’s Menagerie: Words

The pen is mightier than the sword. It is a truth universally acknowledged…

We are words; we are stories, the best and the worst of us, adventures, aspirations, dreams & nightmares…
Here at NC we are showcasing the art of writing all week!

To start the week we have a collection of our favorite quotes from sci-fi and fantasy films that awakened our imaginations. 

An Homage: Writers Part 2

Welcome back readers, to writers weds. If you want to check out my earlier post today, click here.

Now, this does consist spoilers, so continue at your own risk…

This post has been inspired by Buzzfeed, as well! I know, coincidence. Jared Wieselman, BuzzFeed news reporter wrote my favorite type of list! 51 TV Writers Reveal Their Favorite Thing They’ve Ever Written. I mean come on, you’re appealing to my writer fangirl and my tv nerdom!

I am a big believer we are in a golden age for television and the writing is just getting better and better! I am totally one of those nerds who watches or reads something fantastic and sit back and wonder how the hell did they come up with that, or I wonder what their favorite thing they’ve written is, or who inspires them. So, again, this list/report is right up my alley.

See the full list in the link above, but here are a random few.

Whovians, Torchwood and John Barrowman fans, you have to watch Miracle Day starz season! It was Russell T. Davies and team on steroids! So great! It really pushed Torchwood further.

I love Marvel, I love Coulson, and I have loved Shield since it started. Classic Whedon style show that starts off a bit slow, but the payoff is always rewarding and epic! This is my opinion and I’m sticking it to it. This is one of the most heart wrenching and beautiful scenes from season 1.

I have to admit, the Castle train slowed down for me a bit, but it started pick up again. This scene from the recent finale made me respect Beckett more than I already did! It was a great dialogue and an excellent example of how to defend something you’ve worked and dedicated your life to. 

Don’t even get me started on Pushing Daisies! I miss this show so much! It’s a travesty it was cancelled! It was a feast for the eyes every week, sometimes you were lucky enough to get the feast of the ears with some Chenoweth singing, but mostly it was just delightful. 

What was your favorite on the list of 51 and what writer would you like to ask the “favorite” question to?

~r

An Homage: Writers Part 1

This is a complete coincidence, today will consist of writer-centric posts. What initially inspired this eccentricity was a buzzfeed article, which was both hilarious to the point of making me laugh outright with expletives and simultaneously making me pensive and somewhat annoyed. I initially brushed off the negative feelings, but the residue was still there after a few days and here we are.

Now, just to be clear, the negative residue had nothing to do with the article/story itself, but the very statement it successfully made. First, to have you guys better understand where I’m coming from, you have to read the satirical commentary by Shannon Reed, called If Jane Austen Got Feedback from Some Guy in a Writing Workshop. The title is pretty self-explanatory. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

Here are two of my favorite bits…

1. “Some Guy” completely ignoring the lack of a Bennett son is a major plot point, if not the driving force of the novel’s action, with Mr. Collins inheriting the Bennett house, and driving Mrs. Bennett’s rampage of finding suitors for all her daughters.

Also, why five sisters? How about just two? Combine Jane and Kitty. Or, better, make one of the sisters a brother (named “Jim,” maybe?), and then he could be the narrator who mentions his sisters from time to time! Like Hamlet!

2. “Some Guy” not appreciating or understanding that a novel about women is not necessarily only for women.

Also, there aren’t a lot of men in this book. Only about the same number as there are women.

Going on to say…

What do you think about Jim, Othello, and Wickham: Brothers in Arms as a title instead of Pride and Prejudice?

After the initial hilarity from recognizing  this “Some Guy or Girl”, I began to remember just how often I’ve heard or read about these kinds of horror stories. We all know “Some Guy or Girl”, that person who shares their opinion forcefully even when you didn’t invite it, the person who relishes in sharing their “correct” criticism in all its righteous glory when it is asked for. I’m not saying these people are evil, on the contrary, sometimes they provide a useful challenge.

But, and it’s a big but, when someone rips at the heart of your story, the part you feel the strongest about, you go against all odds and you ignore everyone but yourself!

What if Jane had listened to “Some Guy”, what would we have gotten? Where would Lizzie be? Would there be a Darcy? Would the world have even heard of Jane almost 200 years in the future? (Wow, it’ll be 200 years since her passing in 2017.) This of how bleak it would be without her works. What about other authors? What if Tolkien had never created Middle Earth, or Lewis and his Narnia, what if there was no magical wizarding world?

I wonder how many would be authors out there have stopped writing due to some criticism, or worse yet, have stopped due to fearing criticism. It’s a horrible thought! What a waste of stories and tales and other worlds! Where could you have taken us would be author? It’s not too late to lead us to a new place and introduce us to new people. Maybe you stopped writing a week ago, maybe years ago; well I am here to tell you: Do not let anyone stop you from telling a story, sure there will always be critics, and sometimes they’ll have valuable pointers, but have confidence in yourself and the heart of what you’re trying to say. Never lose focus on that!

word nerd
~r