Sherwood Cycle: What's In A Title

 One of the things I occasionally do is clean out my "Writer's Closet". 

Except it's now more of a room than a closet. I always have a writing wall, where I write things about the project I'm working on--characters, scene outlines, music, bits of dialogue, etc--and that wall gets more and more full until I finish the initial draft of the project, when I pull all the 3x5 cards off the wall and start with a "clean slate", as it were.

 But because a wall has only a certain amount of space, I have to create files on my laptop and in various notebooks that are then stuck in my filing cabinet or my cloud drive or whatever because I'm the type of writer that keeps everything. 

And one of the things I keep is a list of possible titles for my project. 

I can count the number of times the first title for a project stuck on the finger of one hand.

That's one finger on one hand.

 One of my favorite authors once held a title contest for one of her novellas on her website(which was a really fun read), and another one made me feel even better when she gave some advice to her blog readers about writing any type of fiction. 

With the Sherwood Cycle, every single of the scripts has gone through at least three title changes, and not just because I can never make up my mind about anything(thank you ADD).

Recently I came across a little post-it note I scribbled on while writing "Wolves of Sherwood", and  there wasn't one title one it. There were four. 

Four different titles crammed onto this tiny piece of paper. 

I really used to bother me when a thing like this happened, but not so much anymore. 

Sometimes, my gut tells me the title doesn't work. 

Sometimes, my characters tell me the title doesn't work, and why(yes, I'm on speaking terms with all of them, it's an author thing, just go with it)

And sometimes it's just a Place Holder Title because you have to call it something other than that-one-project-i'm-working-on-but-can't-explain-cause-it's-complicated.

(Yes, I have called a few projects this before. Also a thing)

Another thing that I've learned over the past couple of years is that a title doesn't just have to work for you--sometimes it also has to give some kind of clue on how to market your project.

Don't believe me?

One of the greatest movies ever made, "The Princess Bride" was a box office flop for that reason--no one had any idea how to market it--even the trailer was a mess. 

Result?

Box office sales plummet, cast and crew suffers, and the film either "comes back via word of mouth/DVD(or in the case of "The Princess Bride", VHS" or disappears from existence except as an article on Google or whatever.

Because I'm the type of weird person who cares about that kind of thing, and I like to make things easier for all parties concerned, when I'm in the revision process one of the things I look at and constantly tweak and re-write is the title. 

Not even kidding.

And I'm glad that I'm not the only one.  

All part of the revision process.

Here's the next chunk of my current project's soundtrack, while I'm at it. 

Incidentally, it's not called "Robbing Hoods" anymore. 

Now it's "Out of Nottingham". 

Much better, in my opinion. 

Dear Agony(Aurora Version), by Breaking Benjamin & Lacey Sturm

 

Vivid, by Lemonade

 

Carry You (feat. Fleurie), by Ruelle

Are You Even Real?, by James Blake

 

Pull Me Down, by Mat Vansen

 

Far Away, by Breaking Benjamin & Scooter Ward

  

Never Too Late, by Three Days Grace

 

 

Game Face (feat. Sam Tinnesz), by UNSECRET

 

 

White Flag, by Bishop Briggs

Nottingham's Legacy: Endings

Question for all of you awesome people.

If I show you these characters:

1. Do you know who they all are?  

And

2. Do you know what they all have in common?

Yes?

Great! You might get an inkling of what I'm talking about.

No? 

Google these shows(or at least one of them--One Tree Hill, Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, The Office, The 100, Legends of Tomorrow/The Flash, Fast and Furious) and characters because you need to have an inkling of what I'm talking about!

Have you done it?

I'll give you a minute.....

Confession time!

One of my favorite franchises ever, ever, ever is The Fast and the Furious. 

(have I seen the original 1954 film on which the franchise is based? Yes. Yes, I have. And it's brilliant!) 

I am the unabashed proud owner of films 1-7(8 is on my To Buy list, along with 9 and 10 as soon as they happen🤞🤞)

When production on "Furious 7" was halted due to the death of Paul Walker, I cried for two days. 

When I went to see "Furious 7" in theatres I spent the last fifteen-ish minutes of the film like this

("Furious 7" still makes me cry no matter how many times I've seen it, much to the amusement of several family members, but that's neither here, nor there)

And this film isn't the only film that makes me cry--last count there were almost 200 of them (I know cause I have a physical list that I started as a joke and keep adding to just because)

Why?

Because in one way or another, they all include the words

And

I 

hate 

endings. 

I hate them so much. 

Not just "End of Play" or "Roll Credits" or "Last Page of the Book" endings. 

I hate Character Endings. 

Character Deaths. 

Character Exits. 

(and yes, those are three different things, with the same result)

I can't stand any of those. 

And there are a lot of them in "Nottingham's Legacy".

A 

Lot!

So writing them all is a bit like a Thanos Snap/Infinity War/Endgame dilemma: 

Which exits are drawn out?

Which are quick and don't "matter" as much(that's hard!)?

And do they all need to "exit" or not (Answer: "they do--kind of")?

And then, there's this tiny little thought bouncing around in my head each time I write an "exit"

But I'm fine.

It's fine.

That is what revision is for so I'm totally cool with it.

Totally.

Cool.

With.

It!

Nottingham's Legacy: Malakai

Moving house plus beginning of new law school year in current circumstances is a fun combination, as it means it I spend so much time on my day job(law school) and packing that I forget this little blog. 

But my brain is mostly back in order now, so I have another tidbit to share with you:

Apparently, villains have to come in threes. 

Because Gisbourne wouldn't just hire one person to take Oliver out. 

He'd hire two--just to cover all his bases🙄

So here's villain number three--and a total surprise. 

Malakai. 

He's little bit like The Hound and The Mountain from GOT, but without the height. And a little bit of a Beserker. Which is fun.

For some reason that I haven't quite figured out yet, Malakai's animal parallel is a bat.

 Then again, bats are associated with vampires, and blood, and death, so maybe it makes more sense than I initially thought. 

We'll see.

Malakai's celebrity model is one that I discovered recently. He's been in "End of Watch" the "Sicario" franchise, and--most recently-"The Umbrella Academy".

In my head, Malakai looks like David Castañeda:

Except without the smile(as charming as that is). Maybe, this is a better visual(even if it is David Castañeda as Diego from "Umbrella Academy").

Yeah. 

That's much better.

Malakai mostly shares the same soundtrack as Olympe--that's what I get for late discovery--so if you wanna give it another listen, then go here.

However, he does have at least two songs that are definitely his:

Bad Man by Audiomachine

 

Watch Your Back by Benny Cassette(yep, from "The Fast and the Furious")

 

And one "combat song" which he shares with Declan, Mei, Enzo, and Olympe, in one of the coolest fights I've written in a while(at least, it looks epic in my head😛)

They Gotta Go, by Lil Jon(and yes, that song is from "Spies in Disguise)

 

Nottingham's Legacy: Passive Hero

You know what's really hard about writing this particular script?

(besides the fact that it's the Sherwood Cycle Swan Song and even though there's still one more script to write the series as a whole is basically over😭😭😭)

Oliver is a Passive Hero.

Awesome.

What is a Passive Hero, you ask?

Rocky in "Rocky Balboa".

Or the title character in "Ivanhoe" (he spends half the book and a good deal of the film adaptions suffering blood loss and basically in hiding and immobile).

Even--according to some--Katniss Everdeen(as witnessed by this writing forums thread)

And Cameron in most of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".

There is still a character arc, and the character does change; but it's a slow change, and it comes through an almost deus ex machina type of event or events. 

Aka, the story is heavily plot-driven.

Basically, a passive hero is someone who is a pawn of fate. They get dragged through the story because fate demands it; their actions are reactions to an outside force. They complete their "arc" because the plot says they do.

Which still makes a good character (see examples above) it just means that I as a writer need to work harder to make Oliver appealing. 

Not impossible, just challenging.

So that'll be cool. 

Nottingham's Legacy: All Grown Up

I have been with these people for a while, and the best part about writing multiple plays with the same characters is watching them grow.

And grow up.

Ravenna goes from a naive spoiled little goody two shoes into a fiery leader who can stand on her own two feet.

Cassian goes from a cocky and slightly egotistical little boy to a reckless teenager with a possible death wish, the successor of Robin Hood and a leader in his own right.

Tirzah loses her prickles(not not her blunt tongue) and lowers her personality walls and becomes a loving and protective mother.

Jean-Luc grows from a little boy with a big mouth and a violent temper to a mercurial stoic member of the Locksley Pack to Sheriff of Nottingham.

Tarquin and Sorcha go from being hostages to Royal Envoys.

And as these characters grow up, not only do they change, but their character soundtracks change as well.

Which is all sorts of fun.

(note: we haven't seen Mini-Jean-Luc, Mini-Declan, Mini-Mei, or Mini-Cassian yet, but  we will see them later, I promise.)

Cassian/Ravenna

Leading the Pack by Sam Tinnesz 

Rewrite the Stars by Zac Efron and Zendaya

Monsters of the North by The National Parks

Good Life by G-Eazy & Khelani

Jean-Luc/Tirzah

Sail by AWOLNATION

You Put Up With Me by Tyrese

But I Do Love You by LeAnn Rimes

Faith (feat. Ariana Grande) by Stevie Wonder

Tarquin/Sorcha

Make It Last (feat. Jewel) by Tyrese 

Impulsive by Wilson Phillips

Army of One by Coldplay

If I Die Young by The Band Perry

Nottingham's Legacy: Combat Soundtrack

You guys, there is a lot of combat in this show. 

Like, a lot.

Not quite as much as there was in "Wolves", but pretty close.

And it's darker and grittier(like all out brawling sometimes, which I love).

There's a particular three on two fight between Declan, Mei, Enzo, Olympe and Gisbourne that is currently my favorite--but I'm still in the drafting process, so we'll see if that particular fight remains my favorite(think armed/parkour/fisticuffs type of fight and you might get the same beautiful picture I get in my head).

As with everything concerned with my scripts, I have to have a soundtrack for all the combat, because of course I do.

Since that soundtrack is ridiculously long, I'm only gonna share the highlights.

And there's Godsmack and Breaking Benjamin and Red and hip-hop/rap in this soundtrack too.

Because of course there is.

Pray 4 Love by Travis Scott (Combat Theme)

Jungle by X Ambassadors & Jamie N Commons (Combat Theme)

Made for This by The Phantoms (Combat Theme)

Keep Hope Alive by The Crystal Method (Tirzah)

Fighter by Jung Youth & Sam Tinnesz (Oliver)

Go Hard or Go Home by Wiz Khalifa & Iggy Azaelia (Aislinn)

Hide by Red (Tarquin/Sorcha)

Speakerbox by Bassnectar (Declan/Mei/Enzo/Olympe/Gisbourne) updated: Malakai is also in this one.

Warrior by The Phantoms (Jean-Luc/Oliver/Cassian)

Good Day to Die by Godsmack (Jean-Luc--my second favorite fight)

Still Alive by Red (Cassian/Ravenna)

Defeated by Breaking Benjamin (Oliver)

It Has Begun by Starset (Oliver)

Nottingham's Legacy: Olympe

Because every story needs a villain(or villainess), here's the one for "Nottingham's Legacy".

Her name is Olympe.

And she's wonderfully awful.

Think Milady de Winter meets Cercei Lannister meets Regina in full Evil Queen mode.

Olympe has been hired by Guy of Gisbourne (yep, Gisbourne's back!) to kill Oliver. Which is kind of fun. She's also one of the coldest a most dispassionate villains I've written, which makes some scenes perfectly heart-wrenching to write.

Her animal parallel is a Stingray

She's persistent and tenacious and when she sees her target, she pounces, paralyzes and "consumes" them(the paralyzing part can be literal, thanks so some really interesting poison research); and she has this uncanny ability to balance her emotions and practice restraint. She doesn't aggressively attack unless you attack her first.

Olympe's model came from "Aladdin", the same film I got Declan's model from. She's also played Pink Ranger and was in the reboot of "Charlie's Angels". This woman is a powerhouse of an actress and perfect--in my head at least--to take on Olympe. Naomi Scott.

Here's her soundtrack. 

The Chain, by Evanescence

Awake, by Godsmack

Payback, by Juicy J, Kevin Gates, Future & Sage the Gemini

Mask Off, by Future

Sacrimony(Angel of the Afterlife), by Kamelot

War and Peace, by Godsmack,

What You Keep Alive, by Red

Lithium, by Evanescence

E.T. by Katy Perry

Where Did You Sleep Last Night, by Sleigh Bells

Monsters, by Ruelle

Redose, by The Prototypes

Nottingham's Legacy Mini-Detour: Scorpion's Nest Mini-Soundtrack

A group of scorpions is called a nest.   

Why do I even bring this up?

Because I kinda sorta got distracted and started writing about how Mei/Declan/Enzo met and created a whole soundtrack just for them.

Because of course I did.

 

(yes, there are some repeats, but enjoy it anyway)

Get the Job Done, by Huxley Ware, Tiguan, & Ceezlin

(google for a music video)--YouTube is being dumb 😛

The Broken, by 3 Doors Down

Voodoo, by Godsmack

Don't Wanna Fall, by Seven Lions, Last Heroes & HAILENE

Giants, by Dermot Kennedy

Unstoppable Now, by The Phantoms

Burn with Me, by Whilk & Misky

Marry Those Eyes, by MKTO

I Need to Know, by Marc Anthony

Kill My Mind, by Louis Tomlinson

Bad Boy For Life, by Black Rob, Mark Curry & P. Diddy

Intentions (feat. Quavo), by Justin Bieber

Familiar, by Liam Payne & J Bavin

Rescue Me, by OneRepublic

Are You Even Real? by James Blake

Bleeding Out, by Imagine Dragons

How You Remind Me, by Nickelback

Forever, by Red

Broken People, by Logic & Rag 'n' Bone Man

This Is a War, by The Phantoms

Kinda Love, by Olivier Dion

If I Die Young, by The Band Perry

Be Like That, by Kane Brown, Swae Lee and Khalid

Tattoos Together, by Lauv

Fire on Fire, by Sam Smith

Until We Go Down, by Ruelle

Brother, by X Ambassadors

Savage, by Sam Tinnesz

Blood on Blood, by Bon Jovi

Where I Want to Be, by The Dangerous Summer

Time After Time, by Cyndi Lauper

Giants (feat. SOYEON, DUCKWRTH, Thutmos & League of Legends), by True Damage, Becky G & Keke Palmer

Watch Me, by The Phantoms

Walk Me Home, by P!nk

Wolves (feat. Silverberg), by Sam Tinnesz

You're welcome.

Nottingham's Legacy: Mai

Mai is the third Dark Horse in Nottingham's Legacy.

 

And 

I

Love

Her

So

Much!!!

Ok, if I'm being really honest, Mai was a total surprise. One of those characters that pops into the story and flatly refuses to leave and then you figure out it won't work without her.

Yeah. Mai to a T. And "Nottingham's Legacy" isn't the only part of the Sherwood Cycle she's in(but that's for later).

She's also connected to Declan, and she and Enzo help make up the trio that I like to call the Scorpion's Nest(again, more on that later).

 

Mei is stubborn and feisty(yes, I know, like most of my female characters), but she's got a stronger moral compass than either Enzo or Declan...which makes things interesting, especially when it comes to keeping and telling secrets.

In other words, the perfect balance between Enzo and Declan.

Being part of the Scorpion's Nest means that one of her parallels is a scorpion, but, like Enzo, Mai has two parallels. Her other animal is a dolphin.

Dolphins have a slew of symbolic meanings: peace, harmony, protection, playfulness, joy, resurrection, inner strength, and cooperation. They trust their gut more than anything else, and create a balance with those they are around.

Which suites Mai perfectly.

Mei's model has been dancing in the back of my head for a while. I saw the trailer for "Ocean's 8"(haven't seen it though) and one particular actress caught my eye. I saw her again in "Crazy Rich Asians" and then "The Farewell"(jaw, meet floor); and she lent her voice to "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" before doing "Jumanji: The Next Level"(saw it twice in the same day and pre-ordered it as soon as that was possible) and it was that and "The Farewell" that sealed the deal for me:

Awkwafina

Soundtrack

Marry Those Eyes, by MKTO

Don't Wanna Fall, by Seven Lions, Last Heroes & HALIENE

Bad Girls, by MKTO

How Bad Do You Want It (Oh Yeah!), by Sevyn Streeter

Ready For The Fire, by Valley of Wolves

The Great Divide, by Breaking Benjamin

Nothing Else Matters, by Godsmack

Le chemin (feat. Sita), by Kyo

Landslide, by The Chicks

Rescue Me, by OneRepublic 

Good Life, by G-Eazy and Kehlani

You Put Up With Me, by Tyrese

Nottingham's Legacy: Enzo

Dark Horses are in every single of of the plays in the Sherwood Cycle, because I love them that much.

Except in this one.

In "Nottingham's Legacy", there are three.

One of them--Declan--you already met, so I'm going to introduce you to the other two, starting with Enzo.

So I told you that Declan is basically Jean-Luc 2.0, right?

Well, Enzo is the type of person I would call Declan's Dark Side, for lack of a better description.

There are a whole lot of things about Enzo that came as a surprise. For instance, he has two "animal parallels". The first one is a scorpion, due to his close connection with Declan(you can read all about scorpion symbolism in the link above); and the other one is a seahorse.

In Ancient Greece and Rome, the seahorse was a symbol of power and authority and they both thought the seahorse was some kind of sea monster(there's even a legend that seahorses guide drowned sailors to the Afterlife), which is a little odd, considering it's size, but whatever.

The seahorse is a symbol of perspective, bravery, patience, serenity, persistence, protection and a desire the help others, which are all facets of Enzo's personality. He's stubborn and persistent and due to his close connection with Declan, he's one of the plot's catalysts.

I saw the film "Straight Outta Compton" four times when it was released. I loved the music; I loved the story(if NWA all wrote memoirs I'd read the covers off of them) and I loved that actors that portrayed members of NWA. Particularly this one:

This is Corey Hawkins. He's also in "24: Legacy"(which was surprisingly good), "Kong: Skull Island"(ditto), "Walking Dead"(which I haven't seen yet--I know!!), and the upcoming "In The Heights"(which I'm really excited about!!!!).

Enzo is a corsair and a former assassin, but he isn't as dangerous as any of the previous assassin characters in this cycle. He's one of those people who thinks everything down to the last detail before acting--almost like Jean-Luc, but not quite. He's also Declan's voice of reason, which is nice because everyone needs one of those.

And, just like everyone else in this particular play, his soundtrack is really eclectic. And I'm totally ok with that.

Soundtrack

Voodoo, by Godsmack

Lights Up, by Harry Styles

Christmas At Sea, by Sting

Pray for Me, by The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar

The Hills, by The Weeknd

Animal by Def Leppard

Bad Boy For Life, by Black Rob, Mark Curry & P. Ditty

Saints and Sinners, by Godsmack

Last Way Out of Here, by Paoloalto   

Nottingham's Legacy: Aislinn

All of you know by now that I like having amazing leading ladies to go with my leading men, and this particular leading lady is no exception.

Her name is Aislinn, and she is Tarquin and Sorcha's daughter. She's got Tarquin's spunk and idealism and Sorcha's amazing inner strength, which makes her a great foil for Oliver.

And she tells it like it is--which I think is something that quite a few characters this time around need to hear--but she does it with a lot of understanding that feels less like pushing someone in the direction they're supposed to go, and more like gently nudging and letting them come to the conclusion in their own time, if that makes sense. She leads people by doing, not just talking.

Her animal is a deer.

Deer symbolize grace, compassion gentleness, meekness, independence, discernment and subtlety, to name a few on the very long list. Aislinn is in possession of all of those things.

The other thing I love about this girl is that her celebrity model's name also starts with "A".

I first saw this amazingly talented actress in "Hunger Games",

and then in "Everything, Everything" and "Rio 2".

I haven't seen "The Hate U Give", but she's in that one too.

Her name is Amandla Stenburg.

Aislinn's soundtrack is just as eclectic as the rest of the soundtracks in this piece.

And I'm not altogether unhappy about that.

Feel Good (feat. Daya), by the Chainsmokers

Miss Independent, by Kelly Clarkson

Fallen Angel, by Three Days Grace

Great Escape, by Kevin Rudolf

There for You, by Martin Garrix & Troye Silvan

Trial Run, by Olivier Dion

Mean It, by Lauv & LANY

Go Hard or Go Home, by Wiz Khalifa & Iggy Azalea

Nottingham's Legacy: Oliver

So it's time to introduce the new protagonist, and I gotta say, he's going on the list of my favorites.

Oliver Scathelocke.

Oliver is the adopted son of Cassian and Ravenna (yes, they had to adopt and the whole story behind that is better discussed in person) which makes him the grandnephew of Robin Hood.

He's grown up in the shadow of two heroes rather than one, and he's got a secret that not even he knows about.

For loyal followers of this blog, that means that he has grown up as a combination of Cassian and Jean-Luc.

Oliver is rash, and impulsive and has a couple of rage issues. He holds grudges and doesn't like being told what to do(but then, that's what every sixteen-year-old is like).

As is the case with all the inhabitants of the Sherwood Cycle, Oliver has a spirit animal: the falcon.

The root word of "falcon" comes from the Latin word for foreigner or stranger, which is a perfect fit for Oliver because he has no clue who he really is. Falcons symbolize victory, superiority, determination, loyalty,  and strength (so there's Cassian's influence) and also wisdom, the ability to be patient and strategize(thank you, Jean-Luc).

 

Oliver's celebrity model has changed several times, since in the initial phase of writing anything, I can't make up my mind about anything.

However, I recently saw bits of a little thing called "His Dark Materials"(I don't have HBO, which makes me mad, but I know who's in the cast and I can squirrel out clips from somewhere, so that's...fine I guess?);

and then I saw a fun miniseries on Netflix called "A Letter for the King"(which is a perfect YA GOT and if you're an entertainment cynic, then as long as you keep in mind that it's YA then you'll enjoy the heck out of it);

and a trailer for the upcoming remake of "Secret Garden"(which will be released in August in the UK only, so I have to wait. And it's fine);

and this particular celebrity was in all three and the first time I saw him I went "ooooh, that's Oliver!" And, at least in my head, he's perfect.

His name is Amir Wilson aka Will from "His Dark Materials" aka Turi from "Letter for the King" aka Dickon from "Secret Garden".

And yes, I know I just repeated myself and yes, it's fine.

I had an interesting discovery about Oliver's soundtrack--for some reason, there is a lot of K-Pop in it.

I posted about my mini K-Pop obsession a couple of years ago, and it never really went away so I guess that the muse has decided that there should be K-Pop in Sherwood now.

And again, it's fine, I'm ok with that.

Oliver's Soundtrack

Unbreakable (feat. Jay Park), by Kim Hyun Joong

Boomboom, by Adam Jensen

Indestructible (feat. Jung Youth), by Sam Tinnez

Own It, by Mack Wilds

Purple Line, by TVXQ!

Breakdown by Jim Hyun Joong

Mama (feat. William Singe), by Jonas Blue

Runaway, by 3 Doors Down

I Stand Alone, by Godsmack

Beg, by Jack & Jack

Stay, by MBLAQ

Figure It Out, by Royal Blood

Keep Your Head Down, by TVXQ!

Made for This, by The Phantoms

Need the Sun to Break, by James Bay

How Do You Sleep, by Sam Smith

This Is Me (from "The Greatest Showman"), by Pasek and Paul

It Has Begun, by Starset

Two of Us, by Louis Tomlinson

Stronger than Ever, by Raleigh Ritchie