Friday, October 24, 2008

Your Favorite Movie

You'd probably squeal while watching your favorite movie, or laugh so hard that you don't care how bad the jokes are, or even cry your eyes out even if you'd ignore the storyline in a heartbeat. There's a certain bias that you have for your favorite movie, whatever your favorite movie is. Could you possibly point out what's wrong in your favorite movie?

Try this exercise on for size. Watch your favorite movie and review it as though you were the Fault Finding Committee for your flick. Look at all the technicals and see where the costuming, make up, or even music went wrong. Examine the plot in great detail: are there loopholes that should never have been put on paper, or are there characters that can be done away with? Speaking of characters: who is acting their parts out well, and who is doing a splendid hack job?

There are many aspects of your favorite film that will be imperfect, but you shouldn't be discouraged. Just think of yourself as a balanced critic, not an avid moviegoer destined to be jaded when finding the slightest mistake.

This exercise should help you critique even yourself fairly. You need to know what makes your writing tick, and what makes it weak. If you can see both sides of the issue in any work of art, be it film, books, or your own work, then you can be a better writer – and you can take criticism better, too.

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