Jonathan K Benton Blog | Please prepare to use your imagination

A Wicked Kind of Dark – Fairytales are not all petticoats and pixies

Posted on April 24, 2013 by jonathan

Always where light shines brightest, the darkness is most pitch. It is in these extremes, real and imagined, that our greatest stories unfold, and heroes stand tallest.

We see it in Wuthering Heights, when Heathcliff recognises in Hareton echoes of his great love Catherine. The bitterness and anger that has dominated Heathcliff’s character, darkening everything in the novel, drains from his soul leaving him with nothing more to cling to. He dies.

We see it in The Lord of the Rings, when Sauron’s spirit rises, vast and terrible, into the sky only to be blown away in the winds, destroyed by two brave little hobbits.

We see it in A Memory of Light, as Rand al’Thor contests Shai’tan, and the very fabric of existence is ripped apart.

A Wicked Kind of Dark is plotted around a series of undulating climaxes, each more intense than the previous one. The trick is to ensure that the final climax eclipses its predecessors, leaving the reader breathless … You be the judge …

A Wicked Kind of Dark – Published by Odyssey Books, August 2013

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Things we do to amuse ourselves

Posted on April 18, 2013 by jonathan

I use dialogue from movies in everyday situations – the people I am talking to usually have no idea. They just think I’m odd. I sometimes need to adapt the quote to suit the conversation. Here’s a list of my favourites; ones that I re-use because they make me smile. Star Wars features strongly. It is my favourite movie.

If someone tells me to hurry up:

I say, ‘I’m going to hit the brakes, he’ll fly right by’. – Top Gun

If someone points out a particularly magnificent moon:

I say, ‘That’s no moon, it’s a space station’. – Star Wars

If someone keeps interrupting me when I’m in a hurry:

I say, ‘There’s no time to discuss this as a committee’. – Star Wars

If someone asks me what I’ve done with my life:

I say, ‘I have the death sentence on twelve systems’. – Star Wars

If I mention someone’s name, and somebody else asks ‘Who?’:

I say, ‘Who? Who? What are you, an owl?’. – Heat

If somebody (including myself) makes a bad decision:

I say, ‘He chose … poorly’. – Indiana Jones

AND finally, no list of movie quotes would be complete without Arnie …

If I’m feeling stressed:

I say to myself, ‘Relax, you’ll live longer’. Total Recall

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USA – Thanking you – Jonathan K Benton

Posted on April 11, 2013 by jonathan

I like America. It brought me Star Wars and Forest Gump. I want to hire a 1958 red and white Plymouth Fury, call it Christine, and drive Route 66 staying at dilapidated motels with flickering neon lights owned by cross-dressing men called Norman – as long as Norman behaves. I like Tom Cruise. He got fired from his ad agency taking nought but a goldfish. Raymond E Feist, George R.R. Martin, David Eddings and Janny Wurts. To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and Huckleberry Finn. I want to get lost – on purpose – in the Louisiana swamps and stumble across a little town called Bon Temps full of pale-faced nocturnals.

Muhammad Ali – you are the king. Don King – I am not sure what you are. Babe Ruth – I knew your name before I knew the game you played. I was five years old, and I was born 50 years after you retired, and if I dropped your name into a sporting conversation, everybody nodded sagely. That is greatness. Carl Lewis and Pete Sampras. Jesse Owens and Michael Phelps.

Bill Gates, who adds value to this world with his technology, and then uses the proceeds of his success to save lives. Wilbur and Orville Wright – flight. Thomas Edison – light. World War 2 – you sent your sons to defend the world against tyranny. Bubble gum – thanking you.

I’m tired of seeing negative articles about the U.S.

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Practicing Prose – Jonathan Benton

Posted on April 6, 2013 by jonathan

I’d like to write a fantasy novel inspired by music – I have an idea but it requires some developing. The challenge is translating something as abstract as music into words. There’s no point writing a novel about music without being able to hear music in the prose.

I love Beethoven. Some consider his Ninth Symphony the greatest piece of music ever written. The legendary composer introduced voices to the final movement of the Ninth because he’d taken the instruments as far as they could go in the first three movements. He needed something more. The soaring choral finale inspires even the most uninspired.

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 provided me with a slightly more realistic test. The Emperor already has a story – I just needed to write my interpretation of the music. The following paragraph is that interpretation. The characters are simply ciphers used to hone my technique. Brad (POV) is a young man searching for something deeper in life. By chance he meets a brilliant, similarly-aged concert pianist called Michael. Michael invites Brad to the Sydney Opera House … This paragraph is an exercise in writing and isn’t likely to appear in the novel. Please forgive any looseness.

***

The grand piano shimmered black under the Concert Hall lights. Michael stepped on stage and moved towards the piano. He looked like a cat stalking a warm spot of sunlight. His black pants were pressed, his equally black shoes, polished. A silky blue shirt danced over his lean torso. He sat at the piano and flexed his long, slender fingers. Magic fingers.

The conductor nodded at Michael.

The hall quietened; a vacuum of anticipation.

Like a wizard with a wand, the conductor cut the air with his baton, and the orchestra roared three mighty chords. Between each chord, Michael’s fingers rippled over the piano keys, impossibly fast, a hummingbird’s wings, and Brad was sucked into the story of The Emperor.

The piano dominated the composition like Napoleon dominated Europe. Trumpets marched inside the music and horns blared triumphantly. Gradually the fanfare faded and the piano took control. A gentle, weeping melody became a thundering waterfall of notes. Brad’s heart pounded like a kettle drum. Music forced its way into his pores. He was alive!

The first movement ended. It was time to search one’s soul in the second movement. The battle was over. Lives had been lost. Victory had come at a cost. A drum beat quietly, in memory of the battle, and drew the audience into the coda. A final victorious flurry of notes ended the story of The Emperor.

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Jonathan Benton – Making Scents of Christmas

Posted on March 31, 2013 by jonathan

This piece relates to my previous blog: ‘Writing when you haven’t got anything to write about’. I used to write poems in my spare time. Often just for a laugh. I wrote the following poem for my niece and nephew many moons ago. My nephew then read it to his class – I’m not sure his teacher was impressed! I borrowed the first two lines from Clement Clarke Moore’s Xmas poem. The rest is all mine. Feel free to personalise the names in the poem and hand it out to family and friends.

Making Scents of Christmas

Twas’ the night before Christmas when all through the house;

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

When all of a sudden, Tom woke with a start,

Surprised from his sleep by young Wendy’s fart.

‘Wake up!’ Tom cried. ‘You made a noise from your bum.

I’m telling Santa you farted, I’m telling our mum.’

But Wendy kept sleeping, unaware of her noise,

Dreaming of firemen and sailors, and other pretty boys.

Tom lay back in bed, until sleep he did slip,

When young Wendy Parker let another one rip.

This fart was much louder, with a voice of its own,

A mini explosion that made Tom groan.

Tom raised his hand, as if to whack her,

When out from her bum blew another cracker.

Wendy woke as Tom choked on her savoury smell

Smiled sweetly and whispered – ‘What’s up pal?’

‘Your bum is what’s up,’ Tom wept in disbelief.

To which Wendy replied with another loud beef.

That smelt of roast turkey, apple sauce and plum pud.

A touch of Christmas, and all things good.

And the moral of the story as you probably can smell –

We all know boys fart in bed … but girls do as well.

JKB

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Writing when you haven’t got anything to write about – Jonathan Benton

Posted on March 28, 2013 by jonathan

Winston Churchill is responsible for one of my favourite quotes: ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going’. Never, ever give up. The same is true with writing. Sometimes I sit staring at the computer and words refuse to flow – not even a drip. But words beget words. Write anything. Drips become trickles, trickles streams, which then become rivers.

Now that I’ve started quoting, I might as well have some fun, and build each paragraph around one. Oscar Wilde said: ‘I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again’. Not much was happening for Oscar that morning … Or perhaps it was. Writing is all about rhythm. That comma could have made all the difference. Try reading Dr Seuss – the guy had rhythm. William Shakespeare did too. Good prose is often referred to as lyrical. At the very least, Oscar was trying to make things happen.

‘Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level’. I love Star Wars – every word, and each frame. But a garbage masher? Wouldn’t that be better suited to Sesame Street, not a Death Star? Writers have ‘off’ days, but if the end result is something as brilliant as Star Wars, even garbage mashers have a place.

JKB

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On writing A Wicked Kind of Dark – Jonathan K Benton

Posted on March 24, 2013 by jonathan

A Wicked Kind of Dark began with an idea – a ‘what if’. For me it was a powerful ‘what if’ that needed to be developed. Like all good ‘what ifs’, it wouldn’t let me go, and a story grew around it. Characters blossomed inside the text. Like roses, these characters had thorns. I loved them but they could hurt me.

Then the story finished and I said goodbye … for a while. The first draft is like an overgrown Bonsai tree. Patient pruning was required. I picked up my pen, and like a pair of Bonsai scissors, I cut out obsolete words and weak prose. I pared back scenes and beautified descriptions, polishing the story around the ‘what if’.

Novels are fuelled by ‘what ifs’, powerful ideas with the potential to grow into beautiful stories.

My ‘what if’ … You’ll need to read the story to discover what beats at the heart of A Wicked Kind of Dark.

JKB

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Jonathan K Benton – Storm Clouds

Posted on March 21, 2013 by jonathan

Too often religion is blamed for causing war. I’m not a psychologist, but that argument is another example of people not taking ownership of the problem. Humans cause war. Pure and simple. If religion didn’t exist we’d find something else to hide behind while we lob stones at each other.

I was sitting on the train today. Clouds were brewing over Brisbane. Four women sat in front of me chatting about work. Other people read books, and still more passengers focussed on their phones. A mother sat with her young daughter. The little girl was clutching a big red Dora the Explorer bag and gazing out the window watching the world rush by.

Why do we have to share this planet with puffed up, self-important, sabre-rattling bullies, who will never ride the train with the innocent; despots who hold the world to ransom and care nothing for the little girl with the big red bag.

Our role is to protect the future, not destroy it. Please. No more. Enough.

JKB

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Jonathan K Benton – On books

Posted on March 17, 2013 by jonathan

Life is chaotic, which is not a bad thing. It just means there are infinite possibilities, lots of potential. It also means don’t ever give up. There might be something incredible waiting for you centimetres (or inches) down your timeline. I won’t lie – there could be something frightening too, but we must search for the good in life. There is a lot of it.

Novels take a slice of this chaos and mould it into something that makes sense. Catch 22 is the only book I know that successfully captures the ‘big picture’. Milo Minderbinder is a brilliant character, and Yossarian most definitely lives. Fantasy is no different. We readers like to relate to stuff – especially characters. That’s why every significant character possesses human traits. Hazel the rabbit from Watership Down couldn’t be more human. Robert Jordan turned honour into a character and gave him a name: Rand al’Thor. Some characters are more nuanced than others, perhaps because the novel is character driven, rather than plot driven. But we must relate to characters.

What constitutes a great book? This question causes heated debates, and because of the chaotic nature of life, there is no right answer. Some argue copies sold – a sound argument. If a book brings pleasure to a large amount of people, then it is doing exactly what a book is meant to do, more so than a less popular book. Others argue a great book must be thought-provoking, full of cleverness and beautiful writing. A fair assessment perhaps? No, because there is no right answer. Books inspire individuals, and we must accept that individuals are unique, and being unique is beautiful (as long as you’re not hurting others).

Yours truly

JKB

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Jonathan K Benton – Ranking Movies

Posted on March 10, 2013 by jonathan

Time wasters: these films owe us all an apology. The only good thing about time wasters, is that they are utterly forgettable. They fill up the empty spaces in DVD stores, preying on the indecisive (and occasionally adventurous) consumer.

Bearable: exactly that. If you’ve got nothing better to do, and you don’t feel like sleeping, then why not watch a bearable movie. It might have a weak plot, but passable cinematography; alright script, but poor acting. If anything, a bearable movie will give you something to complain about.

Good movie: good isn’t a great word but these films can be watched again. They might even draw a tear, or surprise a laugh.

Wow movie: most classics (and destined to be classics) fit into this category. The Godfather, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, Forest Gump, The Silence of the Lambs – the list goes on and some of these films can crossover into the final category. Everything works in these movies; acting, directing, scripting.

Terrifying movie: this final deeply personal category evokes such profound emotions in us that we are terrified to revisit the experience for fear of losing ourselves in their vast transformational depths. Terrifying movies are unique to the individual – what touches me might not have the same effect on you, reciprocated. They are addictive films, ones that linger in our thoughts, and remain with us forever. Two films that have terrified me are Pan’s Labyrinth and Life is Beautiful. Subtitles aren’t usually my thing, so it is testament to the harrowing nature of these films. They took me on a journey of extremes, soaring joy and deep, wrenching sorrow.

I watched a Wow movie on DVD last night. Definitely a classic fantasy. Labyrinth. The masquerade ball scene is haunting and beautiful.

JKB

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