cinematic romance. heart-pounding adventure.
I’m not even sorry.
Everything about this song is amazing.
It was originaly supposed to be the villain song. Imagine that! But it made Elsa too sympathetic, so they changed her entire character based on this song.
Idina Menzel, Elsa’s voice actor, already made a name for herself belting ballads such as Defying Gravity from Wicked.
The whole sequence is amazing, watching Elsa finally embracing her magical gift.
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Once a long time ago a person I met online asked me to be his writing partner and we agreed we’d try to write a fantasy story about his character, a swordsman, and mine, an archer, trying to stop a giant monster from terrorising a kingdom.
He asked me to go first, so, thinking chronologically, I wrote a few thousands words about this monster tracking down a innocent pair of children and devouring them.
When I handed it over to him, he read it and laughed.
“What is this?” he said. “I thought we were writing about our characters attacking the monster!”
“It’s the set up,” I said. “You know, the inciting incident?”
He laughed again, bewildered, and that was the end of our partnership.
Flynnigan Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert from Tangled
Flynn was literally created by polling women and asking the females working at the studio what they thought was most attractive. I love his outfit and is he the first Disney prince to have facial hair? I like it.
I love the fact that his voice actor, Zachary Levi, made a name for himself playing the world’s biggest nerd, Chuck Bartowski. Flynn is the opposite of Chuck.
I love how his character arc changes through his love for Rapunzel.
I love how in the beginning they don’t get along. Apparently it’s my favourite trope.
I love how he sacrifices himself for her freedom.
He’s a pretty appealing package, and that’s why he’s my favourite prince.
Which sounds strange, because I’ve published two novels with great plots (if I do say so myself) and a handful of short stories.
But plot is actually my biggest weakness.
I really like thinking up characters and situations, but I have more trouble reflecting on what my main character’s primary motivation is and how it can drive the story forward.
To help with this, I like to try to narrow down my plots to an elevator pitch:
‘When an inciting incident happens to a character, they have to overcome conflict/obstacles, to complete their quest.’
The Edge of Darkness’ elevator pitch is: ’25th Century cyborg former prisoners of war uncover a conspiracy on board a transport ship to Old Earth and mutiny to save their lives and families.’
Storm of Blood’s elevator pitch is: ‘An Australian teenage demon hunter must infiltrate a coven of witches to find out who is leading the illegal blood magic rituals.’
I also find that writing a pseudo blurb first helps me narrow down what the plot is, and what my character’s motivation is. The blurb can always change, but it I write it beforehand, it can also work as a very loose plan.
For example, take the two blurbs I’ve used for The Edge of Darkness.
“Cyborgs don’t get to control their own lives. Their own destinies.”
I did not choose to become this way. This corrupted, innocent body. Who in their right mind would willingly choose this life?
But those whose machine parts become too damaged to continue to operate under normal circumstances are recycled… their human half meticulously removed and disposed of… and the machine part to be reattached to a new human…
Was I ever a part of someone else?At the end of the interstellar war, Max Ryan, an unwilling cyborg living on the Rock, a notorious prison planet, is rescued and sent to live on the transport ship Eden as it travels home to Old Earth. Max never thought she’d be doing anything else other than baking the ship’s bread for the next five years. But when she uncovers a conspiracy bigger than the war that enslaved her in the first place, she is in for the fight of not only her life, but those around her she has grown to love.
A dystopian novel exploring the themes of love, class, race, gender, and power.
I did not choose to become this way. This corrupted, innocent body. Who in their right mind would willingly choose this life?
Max is just one of thousands of unwilling cyborgs sent home after the interstellar war. With the threat of recycling haunting her every move, she can’t even touch the only bright spot in her life: strong, handsome Ethan. Love means nothing to a cyborg – they’re not even human. The robotics makes them incapable of love. They can not marry. They cannot raise children.
So why does Max’s heart race when she meets Ethan again on the long journey home? Why does his forbidden touch feel so good, and set her blood burning? And why are so many cyborgs recycled when they are otherwise healthy and able to perform their work?
With the strange alien Authorities watching every move, Max uncovers a conspiracy bigger than the war than enslaved her in the first place. To find an escape from the horrific nightmare that her transport spaceship home has become, Max must race to find the answers and save the people she cares about, before her world and everything she knows is lost to darkness.
In Version 1, I focus much more on the cyborg/deep space/conspiracy aspect. In Version 2, I switched the focus to be more emotional, mentioning the romance which is a big plot point, and actually spelling out Max’s motivation and the consequences of failing her quest.
Version 2 spells out much better who my main character is, what she wants, what the obstacles are, and hints at what could happen if she fails.
Belle is my favourite Disney Princess.
I love that she was different to the classic princesses that had gone before. Showing more similarities to her contemporary, Ariel, she was whip-smart, bookish, with a craving for adventure and didn’t fall for the charms of the local village hero Gaston.
I love how although she thinks she wants a grand adventure, she quickly comes to realise that being held prisoner in a creepy Gothic castle might not be it.
I love how she sacrifices her own happiness to save her father and then returns to the castle once the Beast lets her go. She’s loyal as fuck to those she loves.
I love how she’s sweet and kind and looks past the Beast’s fearsome exterior to fall in love with him. even if she wasn’t ‘rewarded’ with a handsome prince, I think they would have been happy. I love the Gothicness of the story, with an innocent young girl trapped in a Gothic castle with a man intending to be her beloved. There’s something about that trope I really like. I also really like the whole love story, from the antagonistic beginning between the couple, to a growing mutual respect, like, and admiration.
I like that she’s physically different to the other princesses as well. She’s the only brunette (not counting Rapunzel) and she’s the only one with hazel eyes. I think those differences help make her live up to her name.
And despite it all, I like that she wasn’t born royalty but married in to it. That’s not very common with the Disney Princesses.
Lissa Bilyk