{"id":723,"date":"2017-02-05T00:10:29","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T06:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.interestingauthors.com\/blog\/?p=723"},"modified":"2017-10-12T06:38:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-12T12:38:39","slug":"how-does-the-human-race-wipe-itself-out-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interestingauthors.com\/blog\/fiction\/how-does-the-human-race-wipe-itself-out-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does the Human Race Wipe Itself Out? (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a writer and a member of the human race you must contemplate this question even if you choose to only write warm fuzzy love stories set in the unattended public toilet of the world (New York.) On some level, even your love story must be firmly grounded in the beginning and ending of humanity. When it\u2019s not, it shows. Readers and viewers cannot tell you _what_ is missing just that _something_ is missing. Even the desire to marry and have children is rooted firmly between the murky beginning of humanity and the end procreation attempts to stall off.<\/p>\n

Millions of fans, myself included, fell in love with \u201cBabylon 5<\/a>.\u201d Not that it matters, but I have the entire series on DVD, even \u201cthe Lost Episodes.\u201d This show survived despite multiple networks trying to kill it. The fan base was relentless. Other science fiction\/fantasy shows, actually far too many, don\u2019t last a season<\/a>. Most you will never hear about<\/a>. Why is that?<\/p>\n

The short answer is \u201cthe writing.\u201d Oh no, I\u2019m not talking about the script, I\u2019m talking about the \u201ccannon fodder.\u201d A good many television and film executives don\u2019t return a phone call or email about a science fiction show not because they don\u2019t sell, (just take a look at Star Trek<\/a>!) but because they don\u2019t wish to pay for the \u201crequired dead weight\u201d or \u201ccannon fodder.\u201d This is the writing which will never really be seen, yet always be directly on the screen. They would much rather pay for a fake reality show which has no back story, current story, or future story. So much cheaper to put on. Today it is all about putting out Walmart quality.<\/p>\n

If you go through all of the \u201cbonus features\u201d in the \u201cBabylon 5\u201d DVD\u2019s you eventually encounter a conversation with the show\u2019s creator where he speaks about the groups of people who created complete backgrounds for each alien species. This included the language, predominant religion(s) and most widely known cultural stories. These backgrounds became desk references and required reading for anyone admitted to the team of writers for the actual scripts. There is also a cute comment about all of the “alien writing” appearing in the show was actually profanity written in the languages found in those binders.<\/p>\n

Were any of you to bother clicking the earlier links about shows shot out of the saddle quickly I will wager a bit of research would prove they tried to \u201cdo it on a budget.\u201d The easiest thing for an executive to slash is the \u201ccannon fodder.\u201d They have no idea what it really is, kind of like that \u201cmystery dealer markup\u201d you encounter when buying a car. There is no direct line one can put on a spreadsheet which says X dollars of \u201ccannon fodder\u201d yields Y viewers. Even worse, there is no line to say W dollars or less spent on \u201ccannon fodder\u201d ensures the show doesn\u2019t last a season. As I said, viewers cannot tell you _what_ is missing just that _something_ is missing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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