I've Left

Back in the day, Blogger was IT. The place to be. I managed to join during the height of the blogging craze. Those were the glory days.

But like many, many bloggers I've deserted this wonderful free platform for one of the flashy new ones, the kind that promise you a hundred shiny templates and your own domain name.

For anyone still stumbling across the ghost town of this site, please be sure to follow me to my new and improved, upgraded and nearly as neglected digital portfolio of a website at

lmshearer.com

Before You Share That Article...

... think twice!

Should I share this article? 

This is a question that, unfortunately, does not get asked enough in the world of social media. It's easy to just click share without thinking about the wider consequences. In all of our online sharing we need to be discerning, especially on social media where an untrue or unhelpful article can spread quickly. I've written out some questions that I ask myself before sharing something in the hope that these ideas will be helpful to you as well.

The Clickbait

Does the title of this article contain the following phrases, or phrases that are similar: "Made my day, my jaw hit the floor, everyone was shocked, you won't believe what happened next, etc."?

If YES then ask yourself

Did this really make my day? Did my jaw literally hit the floor? Was everyone truly shocked? Am I still having a hard time believing what actually happened next?

If NO then DO NOT SHARE THE ARTICLE

If you must, do so with an apology, or see if you can find the source article or video. As a general rule, try not to direct traffic to clickbait sites. They often repost other people's work without crediting, or use dishonest and sensational titles to generate clicks. They should not be supported.

The Pseudoscience

Does this article link to every study that it mentions (especially if it uses the phrase 'studies have shown that __ causes cancer')?

If YES then take a moment to click through the links and make sure they're from a reputable source, even if you don't understand a word.

If NO, then DO NOT SHARE THE ARTICLE

If you must, you're going to have to do the research yourself and post links along with the article. There's no way around it. You shouldn't trust claims made without proof, and you shouldn't pass them on to your friends either. When the subject matter is medical an article that makes false claims can quite literally be harmful to anyone who follows its incorrect advice.

The Sensational

Does this article sound almost too good or too horrible to be true?

If YES, then ask yourself

Does this article come from The Onion, or another parody news site? 

If YES then RETHINK SHARING THE ARTICLE. 

If NO be sure to ask:

Does this article have a corresponding page on Snopes.com?

If YES and it's false, DO NOT SHARE THE ARTICLE

If you have already shared the article, don't post a retraction that says "this is false, but my point still stands." Just don't do that to yourself. Check before you post or own up afterwards. If you fail, admit it, but don't continue using a soapbox that just collapsed.

The Political

Does this political article unfairly attack the opposing side by referring to them with hateful or slang terms, by using angry and bitter speech, by spreading lies and disinformation, by making unfounded assumptions, by generalization, or by promoting slander and gossip? 

IF YES then it goes without saying. DO NOT SHARE THE ARTICLE. It does not matter how wrong you believe your political opponents to be. Always be the better man.

IF NO then ask yourself

What are my motives in posting this article? Am I sharing it with selfish motives, e.g. to attack another friend who has the opposite opinion, or because I feel a great deal of hurt and hatred toward people who hold the opposite opinion? Do I have friends who may get offended by this article, and am I sharing this expressly to offend them?

IF YES then DO NOT SHARE THE ARTICLE.

IF NO and you can honestly say that you are sharing this article because it expresses your opinion on a certain political subject well, then go ahead and post it. Remember that there are some things not worth ending a friendship over, and many political topics fit into this category. I'm not saying you should always be silent, just that you should always be gracious.

The Downer

Was I going to share this article with the following caption, or a similar caption: "What is this world coming to? What is happening to our country? This is why the world will end soon. What is wrong with people? I don't even want to live on this planet anymore."

If NO then you're all good. Just checking.

If YES then it's seriously time to get off of Facebook or Twitter. Get up out of your chair, go hug your closest loved one, get outside and go for a walk, eat some chocolate, take a deep breath. Acknowledge the fact that you have no control over the events of history. Make peace with it. God is in control. It's going to be all right. I promise.

So let's commit to being wise and discerning curators of information on social media. We've been given a lot of power and we must use it responsibly. Here's to less of these articles in the future, and more good articles and great discussions.

I Shot a (Steampunk?) Movie

Nicholas Fitzgerald and Princess Harriet rehearsing

This past week I have been busy. Among other things, my schedule has included frantic script rewrites, getting up at 5:30 in the morning, shooting with dying cameras, hiking through way too much mud, a terrible head cold, orange juice, top hats, dealing with editing programs, reading The Book Thief, taking Hogwarts sorting hat quizzes, and many other insignificant tasks that have no bearing on this post.

The significant part to pick up on is that I'm making a steampunk movie. Or at least a movie that is set in a vaguely steampunk world, but is not overtly steampunk due to the budget constraint of having no budget.

Right now I'm in the process of editing (painful) and trying to come up with a title for the thing (dreadful.) I'll write up a proper long post about the whole miserable process soon. Until then this is me sending up feeble smoke signals from the land of post-production.

In other news, the sorting hat quizzes keep splitting me between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor so I don't know for sure what I am. Or where I belong. What is truth?

—the irritable film editor with the head cold

Reasons the Trailer Thinks You Want To See The Hobbit 2

• Middle Earth
• More Middle Earth
• Hey, guys, look, it's Middle Earth!
• LEE PACE!
• Richard Armitage, did anyone really forget about Richard Armitage?
• The barrel scene, everyone.
• Like, a really intense barrel scene
• This is not the barrel scene from your childhood
• Oh yeah, and by the way LEGOLAS
• Bet you didn't see that coming
• AND not only is Legolas in this movie but he also has an ELF GIRLFRIEND
• WHO IS ALSO KATE FROM LOST
• *who was not in the book*
• An elf girlfriend who can fight.... really good.... hmmmm, where did I see that before?
• Sauron is totally not the Necromancer, nope, not even a little bit
• Gandalf with a sword
• LEE PACE'S EYEBROWS!!!!!1!
• Freaky close-up of Lee Pace's elaborate and grey-tinged eyebrows
• *sweeping dramatic eyebrow shot*'
• Did we mention Lee Pace was in this movie and he has eyebrows?
• That pale orc you either didn't care about or hated because he wasn't in the book
• Giant spiders
• Aramis from Three Musketeers is Bard for anyone who actually watched Three Musketeers  (or remembers Bard in the first place)
• Wizard fighting
• Legolas shooting things at really, really close range
• Fighting in the barrels during the barrel scene. Bet you don't remember that part! *Fanboys shriek and scream and dissolve in incoherent puddles of rage*
• And let's not forget about the amazing, spectacular, stunning CGI dragon....
• PSYCH! It's actually just Benedict Cumberbatch wearing heavy makeup
• COMING DECEMBER 13 
• IN 3D 
• Also 2D for the peasants
• BUT MOSTLY 3D!!!!

"Hey, wasn't, like, that Bilbo guy supposed to be the star of this movie or something?"

How to Remember Commonly Misspelled Words #2: Lose

The English language can be hard sometimes. It's a mishmash of a bunch of other languages with seemingly random grammar and spelling rules. Sometimes remembering the correct spelling of a word comes down to rote memorization. Lose and loose are two words that I see misspelled a lot. Here are some memory aids I sometimes use to remember the correct spelling.

Lose vs. Loose

Lose is a very lonely word to begin with.

To lose someone is to become more alone. To lose something is to be stripped of it, to be less without it. Lose is a word that stands all by itself, that echoes loneliness.

So when you're spelling lose, remember to never give it another O. Loose is a word that has a companion. Loose has two O's, has a friend in the middle. But lose is a word that has lost something. It's lesser without that second O. It's alone. To lose is to be alone.

Loose, on the other hand, is like a pocketful of loose change. The two round O's in the middle are two pennies, rattling around and banging into each other. Loose is a word that's relaxed and easy-going; where lose has that intense "z" sound, loose slides off the tongue with the "s" sound. Loose. Two pennies in a pocketful of change.

So remember this:

He knew that if he were to ever lose her, he would be lonely, the loneliest man in creation. Even the loose change in his pocket had friends, had other pennies and dimes it would meet and collide with. But if he lost her, he would be truly alone.

English is a pretty cool language.

If these word-pictures help you, that's great, but not all memory aids work for all people. Do you have a certain association in your mind that helps you remember certain spellings? What are some other commonly misspelled words that you'd like me to feature?

How to Remember Commonly Misspelled Words: Lightning

You know, the English language can be hard sometimes. It's a mishmash of a bunch of other languages with seemingly random grammar and spelling rules. Sometimes remembering the correct spelling of a word comes down to rote memorization.

Which is where this post comes in. The way I usually remember spelling rules is by associating the spelling of words with their meaning. Sometimes this comes unwilling due to some synesthetic tendencies that I have, such as letters having feelings or different spellings of words having different colors, which makes it easier to remember. But some of the spellings have to do with conscious memory aids, and I'd like to share some of them with you to see if they help.

Lightning vs. Lightening

I see this mixed up all the time. Let's see if we can shed a little light on the situation.

When talking about lightning, "a brilliant electric spark discharge in the atmosphere," remember, the word is short and snappy like the event itself: light-ning. No room for that "e" in here. Just two syllables. 

Imagine a streak of lightning. Feel the brilliant electricity crackling in the warm air. Then all of a sudden it flashes into light - and then it's gone. Light-ning.

However, when talking about lightening a load, that extra "e" is what stretches that word into three syllables: light-en-ing - as if you're lifting that pack off your back, swinging it down, and dropping it on the ground. Feel the weight of the load on your shoulder, feel the muscles stretching as you lift it off, feel the tug of the gravity pulling it down, feel the relief on your shoulders, the lightening. Light-en-ing.

So remember this: if you're talking about a streak of lightning say it short and snappy in your mind: light-ning. Otherwise spell it light-en-ing, three syllables, like the action.

Isn't English awesome?

If these word-pictures help you, that's great, but not all memory aids work for all people. Do you have a certain association in your mind that helps you remember certain spellings? What are some other commonly misspelled words that you'd like me to feature?

Remember, you can follow me on any (or all) of the above social media sites!

NaNoWriMo is Probably Going to Kill My Wrists

via the NaNoWriMo store

I promise that NaNoWriMo won't be the only thing I post about this month. But today is my second day, and I thought I'd share a little bit about how that's going.

First of all, for those of you who are new to this word - NaNoWriMo - it stands for National Novel Writing Month. As in the month in which you write a 50,000 word novel. In 30 days. Which works out to about 1,666 words a day. Oh, and there's a website on which I have a profile. If the website takes a while to load, just know that's because it's November.

So I currently have a total of 1707 words, a little bit over the suggested average per day. I haven't started today's writing yet, but I will soon. After I finish writing this blog post. It was amazing being able to type in that total at the end of the day. 1700 words. I think I can do this. 50k words doesn't seem so unreachable anymore.

Although I also have another story that I'm working on at the same time. I'm trying to finish up H2WaMM for publication the Blotter (and if you're new to this blog that doesn't make any sense. That's why there are helpful links.) Two stories going at the same time... I can still do this, right?

I'm also attempting to write a poem every single day, as a sort of writing exercise. But that doesn't take very long. I'm not worrying too much about quality. It's more for creative stimulation.

So a novel, a short story, and a poem every day. Can I survive this November? More importantly, can my wrists survive this November? We shall see. I may have to take it easy now and then with all this typing I'm doing. But I think it will be worth it.

Heard of NaNoWriMo before? Doing NaNoWriMo this year? How did your first day go? What's your word count? Any tips for avoiding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Genre Favorites: the Blogfest

Today I'm participating in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Genre Favorites Blogfest. The goal: list your favorite genre of movie, music and books, as well as a guilty pleasure genre.

Now, I love a lot of genres in literature, and I love a lot of stories that cross genres, or can't be classified in a genre, so it was a little hard picking just one. The most important things in a story for me are the message and the characters, so I can enjoy a story in almost any genre if these two elements are in place. But there are a few genres I enjoy more than others. Here are some of my favorites:

via IMDb

Movie - Science fiction

One thing I love about science fiction is that, unlike fantasy, it's something that might, just possibly, someday be true (look at Jules Verne's stories). This combination of reality and semi-plausable fiction makes sci-fi movies a lot of fun to watch. On the flip side, I also enjoy the sci-fi movies that pose a question that challenges your perception of reality. I think those are some of the most powerful movies. Some of my favorites in this genre are Star Wars, The Matrix, and Iron Man.

via IMDb

Music - Soundtrack

No contest here. This is the genre in which I most consistently find songs (and even whole albums) that I like. One of the things I love most about soundtrack music is that it's written to evoke specific emotions that tell a story. I tend to favor the composers (like John Williams) that have sweeping orchestral accompaniments. Some of my favorite soundtrack composers are Steve Jablonsky (Transformers), Hans Zimmer (Pirates of the Carribean, Kung Fu Panda, the Batman trilogy, among lots of other things), and John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon and the Bourne movies). I've also been listening to Alan Silvestri's Avengers soundtrack alot. Good stuff there.

via Goodreads

Books - Mystery

Mystery will always have a special place in my heart. I spent maybe two or three months when I was 14 reading through the rest of the Sherlock Holmes stories, all the Lord Peter Wimsey stories, and a lot of the Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple mysteries. But I started reading Sherlock Holmes when I was 7 or 8, and he'll always be my favorite detective.

via Goodreads

And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories:

Comic books. Especially the ones from the "golden age" of comics in the 60's. I love them for the same reason I love reading fairytales - its about good and evil in a simple, uncomplicated form. The first comic book I ever read was the very first Spider-man comic, and I'll always love those. I also enjoyed the original Fantastic Four comics, and some of the early Avengers comics. The newer ones can't really compare.

What are some of your favorite genres?