If you like my work, buy me a virtual cup of coffee at Ko-Fi.
Okay, fine. I’ve made another two TikTok videos. The first is a three-minute whimsical review of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s 2018 science fiction novel Children of Time. My written review of the book is more straightforward and detailed. TikTok videos are brief by design, so I had to compress everything into a max of three minutes. As I wrote my script, I realized there was no way I could deliver anything serious in such a short time period, so I punted and this is the result.
This morning…
…I found out that Disney at some point might reboot the original Star Wars trilogy. This is largely because Disney has already disregarded canon and his playing fast and loose with George Lucas’ main story for Luke, Leia, Han, and company. I made a slideshow for that one with a voiceover just to see if I could do it.
On a semi-interesting side note this instagram video has 169 likes and counting since I posted it this morning and it has nothing to do with my writing. A hot air balloon sailed over my house and landed behind the elementary school facing my backyard. I guess people found it worthy of watching.
More from the tales of social media later.
Oh, I’ve got a “soft” announcement to make. Two of my short stories have been accepted into anthologies and they’re both (somewhat) magical fantasies. That’s all I can say for now. Stay tuned.
Oh again, please, please view and like my videos and follow my account. Please.
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A feature which seized my attention immediately, which distinguishes this medium from the written one in which you have produced reviews, is its vocal tone. While this medium limits the time available for commentary, it is a much “hotter” medium than is the textual one, in the McLuhanesque sense. It communicates more subtly encoded information than may be intended. The tone of your voice seems to convey a dislike of your subject that rather exceeds what is conveyed by your words alone. Your subtext could reinforce your text or it could counter it. In this case, I think you could have used that to amplify such things as a sense of absurdity, tongue-in-cheek implications, or out-and-out disdain. Alternatively, it could amplify enthusiasm — though that doesn’t seem to be intended for this particular story. Consider the difference between a textual review and the video commentary of the classic Mystery Science Theater movie reviews. I recommend that you practice a bit more with this medium and consider the total impression you wish it to convey. It doesn’t lend itself well to deadpan presentation, so use its audio nature to color an emotional background for your viewers. Whether positive or negative, be enthusiastic, deliberate, upbeat or scathing. Tell your viewers what you really feel about your subject. Regrettably, the current social climate prefers feeling over thinking, and it is impatient with the time required for thoughtful analysis. This medium is structured to fit that inclination. Use it, or refrain from it. But be alert to its characteristics.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve never been a very good narrator.
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