A few days ago someone suggested I do more Wordless Book Review videos. I hesitated, mainly because it seems I've beaten that dead horse too much. But then I realized that I have access to a huge library of sound effects. Hence, Wordless Book Reviews: Sound Effects Edition. Books Reviewed/Sound Effected-ed: Save Your Own Life by Amy Sage Webb Swallowing a Donkey's Eye by Paul Tremblay Mafia Summit: J. Edgar Hoover, the Kennedy Brothers, and the Meeting That Unmasked the Mob by Gil Reavill
YouTube recently unveiled changes to the channel layout (again). The most potentially impacting change (aside from the visuals) is the addition of a Channel Trailer, which is simply a video that auto-plays to people who have not yet subscribed to a channel. Once you subscribe, you're no longer susceptible to the auto-play. This sounds like more an incentive to avoid being annoyed than it is to subscribe to a channel, but who am I? Not YouTube apparently. Anyway, the change did motivate me to make a Channel Trailer of my own, which is something I probably should have done long ago. Check it out. This trailer summarizes my channel nicely, in just around 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Admittedly, that amount of time is practically feature-length in the world of YouTube trailers, but I've never been one for brevity (as evidenced by this unnecessary parenthetical statement you are currently reading). Click the image below to…
So, you say you love Harry Potter and that everyone should read it? Now is your chance to put your money where you mouth is. Every year I help raise money for a foundation called The March of Dimes. My child, who you can see hilariously featured a few videos from my daily vlog channel (linked above) was born about 5 weeks early, and so benefited greatly from the research and advances in care for premature infants, which is what March of Dimes does. Normally, I just beg friends and susceptible strangers for donations. This year I wanted to do something different. For every 2 dollars I receive in donations, I will read 1 page of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. At the end of each week, I will tally the donations, read the appropriate number of pages, and then record a video where I will offer my thoughts…
Watch the ManArchy Loves Perfect Edge Books and Lazy Fascist Press reading from the International Poster Gallery LIVE right here on March 7th, from 6-8pm (EST). NOTE: If the video below shows an error, or looks to be not working, please have patience. I have scheduled this post to go live at 6:00 EST, but the reading may not start exactly on time.
![Pixar's 22 Rules for Storytelling [video]](https://calebjross.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Pixar-02-offsite-thumbnail.jpg)
Yes, I am going to make a video for each of the Pixar’s 22 Rules for Storytelling. Be sure to subscribe to this channel to not miss any of the forthcoming videos. I plan to release one/week. Rule #2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different. Simply put, you are not your audience. Yes, you are a member of your audience, but an audience of one does not a paycheck make. As a storyteller, you’ve got to 1) know your audience and 2) be willing to make that audience happy. Even if that means making poop jokes for 3 minutes, which is what I do in this video, as much as it disgusts me.
Yes, I am going to make a video for each of the Pixar’s 22 Rules for Storytelling. Be sure to subscribe to this channel to not miss any of the forthcoming videos. I plan to release one/week. Rule # 1 is You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. Success is defined as a pass/fail dichotomy. There’s no gray area, meaning there’s no room for humanity. Humanity is a gray area, constantly redefined by context. And narrative relies on a “gray area” approach to be successful. We, as readers, rarely accept winning v. losing as a satisfying climax to a narrative series of events. Rather, we care more about the characters that shape those series of events. Sports fans don’t just care who wins or loses; sports fans watch ESPN for hours every day to learn about the statistics and human interest stories behind their favorite teams, and…
I'll be in Boston from March 6th - 8th for the annual AWP conference. If you're there, maybe we can meet up. You can buy me a beer. AWP stands for Association of Writers and Writing Programs. Writers? Writing? Of? is what one would say, if they were intrigued, so let’s pretend that you are. What is this AWP event? It's an annual gathering of writer types from all over the world for a 3 day event that's basically a giant literary circle jerk I’ve attended 6 or 7 so far, sometimes to sign books or perform at a reading, sometimes as part of a panel, but most often as a regular conference-goer. It’s a lot of fun either way.