Reading

Hearts and Minds

/ Peter Martuneac / 10 Comments

I read an interesting article over the weekend about the storyline of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. You can read it here, but the gist of it was that during the production of Winter Soldier the writers focused intently on making the logic in the plot so airtight that the infamous Honest Trailers YouTube page (a page that makes ‘trailers’ for movies with a narrator that shreds the plot to pieces) wouldn’t be able to lampoon the movie.

Well, they succeeded. So we’ll in fact that when Winter Soldier did show up on Honest Trailers, the narrator even admitted it was extremely difficult to find any plot holes or inconsistencies to make fun of.

This formula ended up working this time, but it started an avalanche inside the MCU studios. Starting with Winter Soldier, several movies that followed were constructed the same way: with logic so flawless and concrete that no one could ever poke fun.

Unfortunately for Marvel, this has resulted in some movies that appeal too much to the head, to the mind, and not enough to the heart.

It’s a fine line that authors, screenwriters, and the like have to walk. People come to your stories for a chance to be fooled in a delightful manner, to dream or to scream, laugh and love. But even though they want an escape, that doesn’t mean they necessarily want a complete departure from reality. Your story, while charming, has to be grounded.

Yet keep it too stubbornly rooted in reality and your readers/viewers will feel like your story is a chore. Something to be done, not enjoyed.

This balancing act is something I frequently struggle with when writing. I try my best to close any loopholes in the plot. Sometimes too hard, and I spend so much time searching for logic in that the story stalls. Suddenly I’m unable to make progress because I’m not letting the characters be themselves.

In Afghanistan, our mission was to win over the hearts and minds of the local populace. Show them the logic of your goals there, get them to buy into the mission, but furthermore get them to believe in it. Heart and mind.

So it seems to be the same objective now as a writer. It’s not enough to offer readers an escape if it’s utter nonsense, nor will it suffice to bore them with reality masquerading as a story. As I writer, I need to let my readers escape for a few hours but with the knowledge that they are safely still in this world they call home.

Book Review: “Battle Cry of Freedom” by James McPherson

/ Peter Martuneac / 4 Comments

I finished reading this thick, historical tome last week, and it immediately became one of my favorite books about the American Civil War. James McPherson has long been considered a leading authority on this time and place in history, and he casts an all-encompassing light on a lot dark history.

The first one hundred pages doesn’t even get to the Civil War itself. This first section is all about the state of affairs in the United States in the twenty years leading up to the war. Everyone knows that the Northern states were economic and industrial powerhouses while the South remained agrarian, but McPherson actually shows you why that was.

McPherson also relentlessly attacks the ‘Lost Cause’ narrative that the Southern states seceded merely because they wanted to be left alone. Instead, he shows how the future Confederate states went to great, expensive, often bloody lengths to expand the reach of slavery into the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Then there was the Fugitive Slave Act, which forced every state to partake in their ‘peculiar institution’ of slavery.

Finally, it is refreshing that there appears to be no agenda behind McPherson’s work except for the telling of the truth. No one is placed on a pedestal, not even the Union heroes Abraham Lincoln or Ulysses Grant, as they receive their share of criticism within these pages.

As aforementioned, this is my new favorite book on the American Civil War. I personally give it a 10/10, but the casual reader of history may not enjoy it. It’s nearly 900 pages and can make for pretty dry reading at times.

New Books!

/ Peter Martuneac / 2 Comments

Father’s Day was last weekend, and everyone in my family knows that the easiest gift to get me is a Barnes & Noble gift card, and that’s exactly what I got! I finally made the drive to the local B&N store and, like a kid in a candy shop, perused the shelves for nearly an hour before finally settling on three books: George W. Bush’s autobiography, the fifth book in Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Saxon Stories’ series, and a book about Robert E. Lee, written from the perspective of a Southerner who grew up lionizing the man but has come to realize his major faults.

I’m excited to get busy reading these! I first have to finish a biography on Frederick Douglass, but once that’s done, which book do you think I should start with? Let me know in the comments!

New Blog, Same Author!

/ Peter Martuneac / 6 Comments

Welcome to my shiny new blog! If you’re a new follower, then first let me thank you for clicking and reading what I have to say. I’m an author (you can check out my Amazon page here) and this blog is where I talk about my books, other books, and the art of writing in general.

If you came here from my old blog, then thank you for making the switch! With this new blog I have a bit more control of things, including the domain name, so that’s nice. I also have a new option for email subscription and signing up for that would be much appreciated! Of course I won’t bombard you with emails, no need to worry about that.

Sorry that I haven’t been blogging much lately, there’s just been a lot going on both professionally and personally. Plus I started another work-in-progress, and I’m up to six thousand words on that! Here I’ll try to keep the same blogging schedule as before: one post a week, usually Monday morning at 8:30 EST.

That’s all for today, and for this first post on my new blog! As always, thank you for reading!