I finally saw Iron Man the other day.  I know, I'm a little slow to the party, but I did want to get to it eventually.  I love a good superhero story, which is odd, since comics never managed to grab hold of me as a kid.  My guess is that I like the archetypes they deal with, but don't necessarily like the comic book format.  They tend to be very large offenders in the "This will never end" department.  At least with a book series, the novels form pre-defined breaks.  And even a very long series like the Wheel of Time or the like has an ending out there somewhere.  All you have to do is convince me that there WILL be an ending, and I'm willing to read.  Most comics convince me of the opposite.

Regardless, the movie was great. Not fantastic great--I disagree that it's the best superhero movie ever, as I'm very partial to the first two Spider-man movies, the original Superman, and the Adam West Batman movie.  (Okay, maybe that last one is a bit of a joke--but honestly, both Batman Begins and the original Burton Batman movie rank very high on my list.  And I do have a silly fondness for the Adam West one, plastic sharks and all.)  Against those, Iron Man didn't quite hold up--but that doesn't mean it's not a great movie.  Thoroughly enjoyable, excellently acted, and not TOO badly offensive in the plot department.  (Though, the ending bugged me just a little.)

To be honest--and I feel a little guilty for this--I liked Forbidden Kingdom better.  Yes, it was campy. But man was it fun to watch Jacky Chan and Jet Lee act in the same movie.  Another one that isn't super amazingly fantastic, but was just a good movie.

I'm scared to go see Speed Racer.  I was really hoping that it would be good, and the reviews have me paranoid.  Maybe if I go with low expectations.  (That didn't help with Fantastic Four, though....)

As for the writing, thanks to everyone who showed up at the signing today.  Wheel of Time progressed well this week, and I'm right around the 70k mark, which earns us another point on the percentage bar. 

This is my way of approaching this technique and it may not work for you.

People are passionate about writing and sometimes debate about it gets heated.

If this post results in any comments you find offensive, please complain to me directly, as I opened this can of worms and moderators have enough work as is.

Show, don't tell is a rule the writers probably hear the most.  It's a good rule, but it is also often misinterpreted.   Here is my take on it. 

There are several definitions floating out there on the internet.

Here is one from Janet Evanovich*

". . . instead of stating a situation flat out, you want to let the reader discover what you're trying to say by watching a character in action and by listening to his dialogue. Showing brings your characters to life."

Let's concentrate on this part:  "... discover what you're trying to say by watching a character in action and by listening to his dialogue..."

That sounds as if we are not reading, but watching a movie.

The purest example of show, don't tell is visual entertainment.  TV, cinema, and video games all entertain us by offering an image of the environment and characters.  When you're interacting with visual media, you don't really know what the character is thinking.  You guess at their thoughts from their action and dialogue.

 **

What is this soldier thinking?

My guess is, something along the lines of, "Oh crap!"

In fiction, the writer often has the power to do the opposite: to drop the reader right into the character's head.  Instead of guessing at the thoughts, the reader will know exactly what is brewing in the character's head.  The equivalent for the cinema would be a voice over, but it doesn't really do this technique justice. 

I will come back to this point later but for now, I'd like to stress that being able to dive into character's mind is a very powerful tool.  Please don't discount it.