Sharing some of my creative writing succes...

BEAT

So as some of you may or may not know I am a freelance writer and have several books in the works. One in particular that should be done in a years time and off for publishing.
Writing has always been a passion of mine, as far back as I can remember.
It's one of the main reasons I wanted to Mod this forum.

I have taken on a new hobbie, mostly for fun, but its a good exercise and great practice for creative writing.

I am now a working freelance writer with Examiner.com and I chose to be a movie critic of all topics. I go to the cinema every weekend and always wanted to be a critic so they saw some of my work and gave me a shot.

I just published my first article, I will get better with time I promise, but if you care to take a look here it is: http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-26629-Cleveland-Movie-Examiner~y2009m10d14-I-was-definitley-tricked-by

If you are working on a project and get stuck, its good to write about something else and get the juices flowing and then get back to it.
Feel free to leave a comment at the site!

pickarooney

Is there a full article or just those few lines?

You don't seem to mention a single thing about 'Trick or Treat' and there's a typo in the headline.

If you sepent money on renting it, and didn't like it, why put it on your wait-for-TV 'scale'?

Why is this a sticky?

BEAT

maybe you need to read it again, there is a whole paragraph on trick or treat, how could you miss it? and I dont know what happened to my title, I will have to look into it.
movie reviews are not supposed to be long.

pickarooney

OK, I get it now - your 'wait for TV scale' is advice/rating for the reader?
I've read it again and the only thing you mention about Trick or Treat is that Anna Paquin is in it and you couldn't follow it. It's hardly a review, is it?

BEAT

pickarooney wrote: »

OK, I get it now - your 'wait for TV scale' is advice/rating for the reader?
I've read it again and the only thing you mention about Trick or Treat is that Anna Paquin is in it and you couldn't follow it. It's hardly a review, is it?

its a good enough review for the movie, besides if I gave away details you wouldnt need to see it. I would be giving away too much for those who want to see it if I said what I wanted to say, and yes I have a rating scale of : wait for tv, rent dvd, see in theater...i believe i have that in my bio on my page... i did get a comment on the columns page from someone i dont know who said they saw the same movies and the review was right on...so to each his/her own I guess.

bakkiesbotha

I'm not familiar with the Cleveland Examiner, but I am guessing from your reviews that it is somewhat similar to Metro or Herald AM? Readers want a quick snippet of information / opinion and nothing more. The reviews do the job if so, although maybe you could give a little bit of detail about the plots without giving too much away.

What I find a little curious is your rating system - must see at the theatre, wait for dvd, wait for tv. This implies that every movie that comes out is worth seeing and the only decision to make is which format to view it in.

Would a "don't bother" / "avoid at all costs" rating not be appropriate from time to time?

In any case, well done on getting your name in print.

MikeC101

I understand you don't want to spoil the movies, but I think you need to get some more information across about them.

As previously noted, the only thing mentioned about Trick R Treat is that you found it hard to follow and that "the writer/director couldn't decide which story line he liked better so he just mixed them all up." - which misses the point that it's an anthology movie, along the lines of earlier horror movies like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt, in fact the whole thing evokes a real 80s horror feeling - I'd expect a movie reviewer to know that.

I think the stuff about how it was rereleased because of Paquins success with True Blood (I don't know that it was, it may have helped) could be done without, with some more focus on the content of the actual film.

Similarly, the Zombieland review is really just a one liner with the (by now redundant) comparison to Shaun of the Dead that every single horror comedy seems to get now.

I think there's potential - but maybe a more obvious review system that isn't as wordy - I know it's something of a cliche but marks out of 5 or 10 are used a lot for a reason.

For short reviews lines like "It was fun to watch but Id say it would rate on my wait for the DVD scale." are just too wordy - why not "Fun to watch, but wait for the DVD". That way you can get more about the movie in fewer words. Needs a bit of editing as well, as there are a lot of typos and punctuation errors.

finnagen

I have taken on a new hobbie, mostly for fun, but its a good exercise and great practice for creative writing.Hi Beat can help,I am a unemployed Chef and have Wanted to write Reviews on this topic ,do you know were best to look .

Kind regards Finn:)

claire h

Really don't understand why this is a sticky post.

pwd

That's a great job being a freelance writer. I myself am a freelance astronaut.