The most intimidating thing about producing a piece of art, whether it’s a novel, a painting, a script, a movie or whatever, is putting it out there for people to look at. Even though that’s the end goal – to share your vision – the act of letting others see it is an enormous leap of faith.
When I finished my first novel, I could only perform about three edits before I ran out of steam. You just become too close to your material, and there’s a danger of driving yourself crazy trying to make it perfect.
So I recruited a group of what are called ‘beta’ readers to read the book and give me their feedback. I had very specific questions I wanted them to address, but mainly, I needed to know if anyone even liked the story. You have this thing in your head, you see, that you think is pretty cool, but you have no way of knowing if it will appeal to someone else. You put blood, sweat and tears into it for months, and then you cross your fingers that it will all have been worth it.
It was tough handing over my baby. I asked my reviewers to be candid, but not insulting. Then I waited not-so-patiently for my beta readers to finish a fairly lengthy novel (about 190,000 words – not a huge stretch for a fantasy-type book, which typically runs around 150K or so, but still) in a style that bucked current trends.
The net result was that all my readers loved the book – a very happy outcome. But they had really good insights for me about what wasn’t working, and sometimes very differing opinions on a few aspects. That was okay. It gave me an idea of what a variety of average readers might feel.
Things could have gone the other way. If no one liked the first book, at least I’d given the thing a shot, so no regrets regardless.
Now that the first two books of the trilogy are out, I’ve been engrossed in what grabs some people – favourite characters (Moltkin and Heltkil have been enormously popular, as has Enoch Crowe, the villain), aspects that they really cottoned onto (e.g. descriptions of the food) – and their speculation about how certain issues are going to play out in Book 3. As the author, it’s delightful that my readers have become so engaged, and I’ve had so much fun subverting their expectations and leaving people guessing.
In the television and movie world, though, a vision that flops can become a very expensive proposition. Critics can be devastating, and I frequently disagree with them.
When the movie The Mummy with Brendan Fraser came out in 1999, it got panned as a piece of fluff, but both my hubby and I loved it. It was a great romp with a lot of humour and fabulous cinematography that harkened back to the adventure movies of early Hollywood. Was it Oscar-worthy? No, but it entertained the hell out of us. Did I love every single scene? No, I had a few things to nitpick at, but overall it transported me to a time period of mystery and exotic quests, which was right up my alley.
I’ve also watched movies that the critics loved and I didn’t. Tastes are very individual, and sometimes a story, or a setting, really touches us, but not someone else.
In 1981, along came an award show called The Razzies, with prizes that no one in the film industry wants to win. But at least the Razzies poke fairly gently at what they consider the worst ventures of the year. The trophy is small and not expensively produced. It features a golden raspberry about the size of a golf ball that’s a metaphor for the somewhat tongue-in-cheek act of blowing a ‘raspberry’ at someone.
Numerous very successful actors, producers and directors have been nominated for, and received, a Razzie. For 2019, for example, Dame Helen Mirren was nominated for her acting in the movie “Winchester”. Now personally, I’ve never seen her give a bad performance, and I even rather like the movie, which was also nominated for Worst Picture. I think critic Stephen Dalton of The Hollywood Reporter ‘s assertion that “Winchester is a visual treat, its palette aglow with bronze and turquoise tints that suggest colorized Victorian postcards,” but “promises more sophisticated shocks and psychological depths than it ultimately delivers” was pretty valid, all in all.
The only movie and performances I’ve seen on this year’s slate is Madame Web, which I felt was more lacklustre and a bit confusing than terrible, although I’ve certainly heard about some of the other nominees. I suspect that sometimes the problem might have been a case ‘too many cooks spoiling the broth’, and the original vision got lost in the shuffle. And sometimes it may have just been bad judgement on a writer/producer/director’s part.
The purpose of the Razzies, as per their website, is for artists to “Own Your Bad”. Sandra Bullock received a Razzie award for Worst Actress for her performance in All About Steve, which, if the poster on IMDB.com is anything to go by, looks like a bit of a stinker. But she made the best of it with a delightfully funny acceptance speech, which you can watch on YouTube.
This year’s nominees are:
Worst Picture
- Borderlands
- Joker: Folie a Deux
- Madame Web
- Megalopolis
- Reagan
Worst Actor
- Jack Black in Dear Santa
- Zachary Levi in Harold and the Purple Crayon
- Joaquin Phoenix in Joker: Folie a Deux
- Dennis Quaid in Reagan
- Jerry Seinfeld in Unfrosted
Worst Actress
- Cate Blanchett in Borderlands
- Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie a Deux
- Bryce Dallas Howard in Argylle
- Dakota Johnson in Madame Web
- Jennifer Lopez in Atlas
Worst Supporting Actor
- Jack Black (Voice Only) in Borderlands
- Kevin Hart in Borderlands
- Shia LaBeouf (in drag) in Megalopolis
- Tahar Rahim in Madame Web
- Jon Voight in Megalopolis, Reagan, Shadow Land & Strangers
Worst Supporting Actress
- Ariana DeBose in Argylle & Kraven the Hunter
- Leslie Anne Down (as Margaret Thatcher) in Reagan
- Emma Roberts in Madame Web
- Amy Schumer in Unfrosted
- FKA twigs in The Crow
Worst Screen Combo
- Any Two Obnoxious Characters (But Especially Jack Black) / Borderlands
- Any Two Unfunny “Comedic Actors” in Unfrosted
- The Entire Cast of Megalopolis
- Joaquin Phoenix & Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie a Deux
- Dennis Quaid & Penelope Ann Miller (as “Ronnie and Nancy”) in Reagan
Worst Director
- S.J. Clarkson for Madame Web
- Francis Ford Coppola for Megalopolis
- Todd Phillips for Joker: Folie a Deux
- Eli Roth for Borderlands
- Jerry Seinfeld for Unfrosted
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel
- The Crow
- Joker: Folie a Deux
- Kraven the Hunter
- Mufasa: The Lion King
- Rebel Moon 2: The Scargiver
Worst Screenplay
- Joker: Folie a Deux
- Kraven the Hunter
- Madame Web
- Megalopolis
- Reagan
The awards will be presented this Saturday, March 1st. Check out the Razzie Channel for the results! And if my novels ever get made into movies, I hope they don’t win one of these awards 😉