From the Writer's Studio: Bionn An Fhirinne Searbh

On the occasion of Nevekari Enterprises receiving its 19th & 20th Screenwriting awards, I thought it might be a good opportunity to launch a new feature on the Gauntlet - one about our writing, entitled "From the Writer's Studio". So, in the future, all analysis or critical commentary about writing in general, and our writing, etc., etc., will be searchable under this tag.

As the post name says - Bionn An Fhirinne Searbh (it's Gaelic and it's pronounced something like bean-ah-nerain-yeh-sharoo), and it translates as "The Truth is Often Bitter". This is not to say that this feature is a complainatorium, but rather, that the writer's struggle, as well as the manipulation of the reader, or viewer's emotions, comes at a cost. One could say that writing is simply about delivering entertaining catharsis. But, we must always remember that there are those who prefer fantasy to unpleasant truth in life and not being in touch with their emotions. So, it's like pulling teeth, but in a nice way. In my opinion to be successful story-tellers we must break the delusion with an illusion, in order to reveal the actuality of life, the actual truth.

So, onto the first topic...

What both of the scripts that received these most recent awards share in common is that they feature strong female protagonists. I personally prefer writing women over men. The nuances of how they wield their power, or lack thereof, can be fascinating, and surely their interactions between one another are generally much more layered. Simply put, men are simple, while female characters require a deeper commitment to understanding who they are. This is not to say male protagonists should reset to basic archetypes, just that the cause-and-effect of the male psyche is a little more predictable.

The lead of our tech-crime web-series, "Asymmetric", Yua Katayama, and our science-fiction feature, "Classical Ideal", Lily Goslicki, have literally almost nothing in common. Yet, they are both leads with a substantial presence. Yua is plucky, puts up a hard exterior, and has issues with patriarchy, fighting herself as much as the powers that be. Lily, on the other hand, is demure and reticent to embrace the new self she is evolving into, not grasping that she possessed that power all along. She treads lightly where Yua storms. If the two were to meet, it is doubtful that they would truly like one another, then again...that just gave me new idea. Clearly, they couldn't really meet because they live in different realities, but even if they couldn't meet it's the idea that counts, and pretty much, that is what writing is all about, isn't it?