The Inspiration Engine - Where are you going?

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The Inspiration Engine - your Mission in Life Video

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Happy New Year

By Douglas Clark
-Head Writer - The Inspiration Engine


There's so much to be thankful for, even if you don't realize it. Set a goal for 2016 and do your best to meet it. For me, my goal is to get as much writing done as I can. Also, my other goal is to get something published.


Make a plan, stick to it and you should hit your mark. Believe in yourself and you can accomplish what you set out to do.


Good luck.

2016

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the day!

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Remember, there's always a chance to turn the day around. All one has to do is walk in a new direction.

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A Sun-Driven World!

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine






I've wondered for a while just how much solar it would take to power the world instead of the archaic fossil fuels we use today. The guys and girls over at TechInsider answered the question for me.


Here's how we power the world.










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America Is Dead!

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine


You think that’s democracy you’re tasting? Wrong. While you were sleeping, they secretly replaced your democracy with Oligarchy. That super-rich, sweet tasting form of government that fattens the pockets a select few in power while the masses get to starve on empty promises and the tasty calories of false hope. You better like eating air, because the super-rich powers-that-be would gladly watch you starve to death as they take the last crumpled dollar from your wallet. 

If the preceding dose of reality was too much for you, perhaps you can digest the true fate of American politics with former President Jimmy Carter’s eloquent words.

The super-rich have been raping this country for a long time.  It’s no surprise. That’s what the rich have always done. The fact that most people don’t do anything about it is even more disturbing. Seriously, the transformation from republic democracy to oligarchy is blatant, pervasive, and painfully obvious. All you have to do is open your eyes.

This disgusting perversion of American ideals has bothered me for a long time. The problem is, it doesn’t really bother most of the sheeple in this country. If it did, more people would fight back. I guess they like being indentured servants to the ultra-super-rich.  It sucks that so many people’s apathy negatively affects me. Hell I did my part. I spent 5 long years on a gray Navy boat to defend freedom and democracy, not apathy. And I certainly didn’t protect oligarchy, subservience, avarice and deceit.

But that’s the way it is these days. The rich rule, corporations are people, and the common man is considered nothing more than scum under the elite’s boot. Something to be scraped off and discarded. I guess the masses like to be slaves. Maybe we should wake up. 

Thanks for reading. 
Questions or Comments welcome.

Self-Publishing Struggles!

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Sometimes I don’t care. I mean I just don’t give a damn. It’s not always and the feeling goes away pretty quick, but it happens nonetheless. I mean, devoting all your time and energy to positive thinking is great and all, but sometimes, it just doesn’t work. Sometimes you just have to say screw it. Forgive me if that’s blunt and crude, but it’s true. That negativity seeps in and takes hold; it’s like a poison. And in real life, every once in a while it wins. 

The trick is to make sure negativity’s win is only once in a while.

Right now, I’m struggling to get my book ready for publication. It’s a long, slow, involved, long, slow, difficult, long, slow, and stressful process. Anyone else who’s been through it can attest to that. And it feels like it’s going to take a thousand lifetimes to get finished. Keep in mind, the story is actually finished. Right now I’m just working on getting it ready for readers to actually enjoy. I mean, I’d love for you to read The Odyssey of Ryou Un Maru right now! But you can’t, because it isn’t ready… yet. Anyway, the point is, it’s hard and I’m struggling with the thought that even after all this, I’m still motivated to get it out there albeit much later than I originally planned.

Also, there are times when I ‘just want to write’, but that’s only a fantasy I indulge in periodically. Part of being a writer is marketing what you’ve written. It’s not the most glamorous thing but it is necessary. It’s a weird dichotomy but a necessary one for anyone that wants to make it as a published author. I know that, but it still sucks. In a perfect (read: fantasy) world, I’d just write the books and a legion of editors, proofreaders, and publishers would do all the grunt work of getting it to press. But that is just not the case, especially since my name isn’t StephenKing, JK Rawling, Dick Francis, Dan Brown, Jackie Collins, or any other best-selling author you could name off the top of your head. It’s when I compare myself to these successful folks, look at what they’ve accomplished and then look at my small body of work I get disheartened and just want to quit. A little guy voice in my head starts whispering negativity and cynicism and I start to believe him.  That ‘just screw it’ attitude sinks in and I want to quit. Man I Hate that guy!

I listen to him every once in a while and agree. It’s then I wish I had someone to smack me in the face (proverbially… or maybe actually). I hate failure; I hate not even trying waaaaay more. So I cry a little bit, sniffle, feel sad for a while and then do a ball check and suck it up. Because I just can’t quit.

I have found a few things to keep me going. The latest book I’ve taken the time to read is Self-Printed (3rd Ed.): The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing by Catherine Ryan Howard. It’s pretty much a how to combined with a personal experience book about how she managed to get through the whole publishing mess that is self-printing. There are lots of useful tid bits and it’s nice to read about others that struggle with the same issues.

Even though it’s taking a billion billion times longer than I want or could have believed, I’m still on my mission to be a successful writer. Hell, I might not ever make it, but I just won’t give up. Is that pathetic or perseverance? I don’t know, I guess maybe success is the only way to answer that for sure…

Thanks for reading. Questions and Comments are welcome!

http://stephenking.com/

http://www.jkrowling.com/

http://www.dickfrancisbooks.com/

http://www.danbrown.com/

http://jackiecollins.com/

Hey California, Let's be Water Smart!

Douglas Clark

-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Let's be Water smart.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/universityofcalifornia/2015/03/30/how-one-scientist-is-helping-plants-survive-californias-worst-drought/

Thanks for reading.

DouglasHClark.com

Merry Christmas!!!

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Merry Christmas!!!!

Enjoy the time you have with your family and friends. 

Thanks for reading.

DouglasHClark.com

5 reasons the Force Awakens Trailer is Terrible

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

I’m sure I’ll piss off a lot of people with my opinion. Truth is some people should really just get over it. First thing to remember is this is just a teaser trailer, nothing more. Everyone is a critic and you can’t please them all. So I’m not going to try.

I didn’t like either Star Trek movie J.J. Abrams made, and it’s looking like I won’t like the Star Wars movie he’s working on right now either. I’ve kept in mind that this trailer is just a teaser, but from what I’ve seen so far, read so far, and previous movies made by Abrams, he’s not going to do anything revolutionary.

1.  Overreliance on CGI

CGI is a great tool to get a shot done when it just can’t be done in ‘real life’. The thing is for Star Wars, everything the Millennium Falcon, X-wing and Tie fighters, speeders, and droids do can already be shown in model and stop motion. We’ve seen it before in the Original Trilogy. The little bits of CGI thrown into the Special Editions of the originals were great and really enhanced what was already there. But in this new age of technology, CGI is turned to more and more. 

There’s a bit of realism lost when it’s employed, rather than models. I know models are hard, damned near impossible really considering what people expect nowadays, but the sterile, ‘clean’ look of the second trilogy still haunts me. Granted, at least the storm troopers are really there, wearing actual armor, so that’s at least something. But weren’t we promised a throwback to the Original, gritty look and feel? Guess that was too much to hope for. 

2.  Incoherent and short cut scenes

Thirty seconds into the teaser trailer and we had at least half a dozen, if not more quicker clips, flashes of scenes cutting from one location and character to the next. Nothing about these cuts tells us anything about these new characters, what they are really doing, or (more importantly) why we should care. 

Okay, so we get a look at a few things we haven’t seen before, but without any contexts or reason to care, it all falls flat. (See reason 5 for more detail.)

3.  Complete lack of plot or story line

For a second, the somewhat sounding Benedict Cumberbatch narration made me think I was watching the Star Trek: Into Darkness trailer again. And it has been revealed that Andy Serkis spoke the lines. But if you really listen to what he’s saying, he basically states the title of the move. There’s an awakening of the Dark and Light side of the force. Well thanks, we knew that from the title of the damned movie. 

How about having a character say something important about the struggle he’s about to undertake or what’s at stake for loved ones, or maybe how scared or concerned he is about someone or something. How about something like: I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.  See, we don’t get any of that.

4.  Ineffective and comical use of Nostalgia

I know the Falcon is bad ass. We’ve all known that for more than 30 years. Han Solo risked 3720 to 1 odds and successfully navigating an asteroid field to show us just how friggin’ incredible that ship is. Oh and if there were any doubt, Lando whipped that thing through the guts of Death Star number two (albeit with a minor scratch) and made it out in (almost) one piece. Showing the Falcon’s aerial acrobatics is nothing new, and as much as I’d love to see that hambuger–shaped hunk of junk fly all day long, there’s more to the story (or at least there should be) than that.  How about in addition to those acrobatics, show us some new menacing ship the dark side baddies have, maybe something our heroes have no answer for. That would certainly build tension. 

Also, although it’s great to see Tie Fighters, X-Wings and the like, if this movie takes place 30 years after Jedi, ship designs probably would have changed just a bit. Couldn’t we see some of that instead of more of the same. I get there’s a bit of homage payment due considering the prequels were atrocious, but 30 years have passed since Yavin. Show it.

5.  No emotional impact or development of engagement

I really paid attention to this trailer, hoping there would be an emotional punch, or at least a hook that drew me in. I didn’t get that. Each shot shows the supposed main characters alone: Boyega in the desert, the comically rolling droid, Daisy Ridley on the Speeder, Oscar Isaac in the X-wing, the cloaked figure in a forest, heck, the storm troopers were the only ones in a group. 

The lack of interaction here may be sending a message of detachment or the need for our heroes to ‘come together’ but to me, the way it was presented, it only showcases (poorly) that these people are in the movie. How about we see them talking, or fighting together, or something, anything…

Here's Hoping the Movie is Better

The original Star Wars trilogy set up a definable story arc that propelled the plot and drove the narrative. Character interaction played a huge part in making the story memorable and lovable. When the first Star Trek movie by JJ Abrams came out, I hoped that the magic of the original series and the movies would be captured, at least a little bit. 

What I saw, carried over to Into Darkness as well, was weak storytelling, borrowed plot points, lame McGuffins (Red Matter…Really? WTF) and rehashed elements of stories previously told. Into Darkness turned out to be a soulless and uninteresting retelling of the Wrath of Khan, which was an emotional, powerful and damned good story.

My guess is JJ Abrams is going to borrow similarly from the Original Star Wars trilogy without investing any real emotional depth or feeling, essentially pandering to Star Wars fans while simultaneously cheapening the underlying greatness of those stories. 

As I said in the beginning, this was just a teaser trailer. But from the efforts previously offered by Abrams, there’s little hope something new, inspiring, and profound is on its way. We shall see next year.

Let the blood letting and flaming begin!
Thanks for reading.

Questions and comments are welcome.

Aspiring Writers Should Be Heard!

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to actually get your writings published? Have you ever just had an opinion or idea you wanted to express and share with others? Well if you do, make contact with the Inspiration Engine. 

We welcome new and aspiring writers and would love to hear what you have to say. Submit an essay, opinion, or review and we'll totally consider it for the Inspiration Engine. 

Thanks for reading, and submitting!

Questions and comments are welcome.

DouglasHClark.com