you say you want a revolution...

On January 25th 2024, some new He-Man content dropped in the form of Masters Of The Universe (MOTU): Revolution, a five-part animated series on Netflix.
Awesome.
I took the day off work so that I could binge all five episodes uninterrupted.

Should I have bothered?

Well yes, of course I should. I love MOTU, so I was always going to watch it, and this show extended the lore in some interesting ways as well as telling an entertaining story.

The first thing you will notice is that it looks beautiful. Powerhouse Animation Studios have fleshed out the world of Eternia in such an immersive way, you find yourself looking at every inch of the screen at all the inhabitants who are going about their daily lives.

There are three main plot threads running through the five episodes of MOTU: Revolution -

1. King Randor (He-Man’s dad) has died, and so He-Man has to decided whether he will take the throne.

2. Hordak (the new threat) is attacking the planet Eternia and must be stopped.

3. Sorceress Teela has to find a way to re-create heaven (which was destroyed in MOTU: Revelation) so that the the souls of the dead aren’t left wandering the earth for eternity.

If all of this sounds confusing, that’s because this series relies on you to have seen MOTU: Revelation. If not you will be lost, as the characters are given very little in the way of introduction. Any new MOTU show should be aimed at attracting new fans, and while the look and feel of MOTU: Revolution is modern, I doubt it will appeal to anyone outside of the core fanbase.

Of the three plot threads above, the Hordak one was my favourite. I have always been a fan of Hordak and the Evil Horde - Mantenna is still one of the coolest designs I’ve seen. Hordak’s relationship with Skeletor is played well, too, peppered with bits of backstory to fill out the plot thread.

I did like this show - I watched all five episodes in one sitting and never felt bored - but I do have some criticisms:

1. The beauty of MOTU is its rich supporting cast. The designs of these characters is what made the original toy line such a hit. Here, they might as well be regular guards, as they are just seen in the background fighting or firing a gun. Relegated to an easter egg for long time fans, instead of a character capable of moving the plot forward in any way.

2. The script seemed to be peppered with alliteration. Whether that was the writer trying to flex, or something the voice cast wanted to play around with I don’t know, but once I noticed it, it became off-putting and made a lot of what was being said nonsensical.

3. I really don’t want to say this, but our heroes weren’t likeable. Prince Adam comes across as a smug, spoilt, little boy and He-Man seems to be arrogant instead of confident. Teela too, seems so over-powered that there is no real sense of threat. This is a big issue, because there is no real heart to this series. Yes, it looks cool, and does its best to bring MOTU to a modern audience, but it’s lost the wholesomeness - which is the essence of MOTU.

That being said, there is a moment where He-Man and Teela kiss to transfer the Power of Grayskull which is genuinely moving - easily the moment of the series. There is also a touching moment on the palace balcony between He-Man and Battle Cat (which all the cat lovers out there will no doubt relate to).

I would definitely recommend you watch MOTU: Revolution (please get as many eyes on it as possible), the art is great, and the stories it tells will keep you interested. My only fear, is that because of the characterisation, you will forget about it the week after.

tell no-one

For Christmas I was given the Harlan Coben BBC Maestro course on writing thrillers, you can find it here if you want to check it out.

It took me just over a week to complete the classes, there are twenty three in total ranging from ten minutes to twenty minutes in length. This works out perfectly because you don’t feel under pressure to reserve a couple of hours to sit and study, you can work through a session when you have a spare half an hour.

Harlan himself is a great teacher. I’m a fan of his books anyway, which is why I was gifted the course, but he talks in a way which is easy to understand, and he doesn’t overcomplicate the art of writing. Instead he gives practical advice which you can use while writing your manuscript.

Moreso than the classes themselves, it is interesting hearing Harlan talk about his writing process and the tips and tricks he’s learned along the way to help deal with things such as writer’s block. I found the classes on endings, and editing were the best for where I am at the moment in my book, but towards the end of the course we hear from Harlan’s Editor and his Agent, both of whom offer insight as to what they are - and what they’re not looking for.

Through the Writing Room I have spoken to Editors and Agents, so a lot of what was on the BBC Maestro course I had already heard before - plus, when you’re in a classroom setting you can ask questions and bounce of the other students.

If you don’t have access to the Writing Room and/ or you would rather work at your own pace, then I would definitely recommend the Harlan Coben BBC Maestro course. Whatever stage you’re at in your journey, you will find something of interest - even if it’s just confirmation of what you already know from another source.

It was good to have a week off from re-writing my novel and to give my brain chance to look at it from a different angle. Back to it now.

Back for the third time.

2024.

The future. Only it’s not the future, it is today. I blinked and seven years has passed.

A brief history then, as I have just deleted all my previous blog posts:
When it comes to being creative - whether that’s writing, painting, or writing songs - I’m very much in the camp of waiting for inspiration to hit then working feverishly on your project in a fit of passion. The trouble with that of course, is that life gets in the way and fits of passion become fewer and farther between, then before you know it a year has passed and you haven’t done anything. If I was going to progress, I needed to stop being so pretentious and write every day, even when I wasn’t inspired.

The first written notes I can find about the novel I’m writing - ‘The State Of Youth Today’ - were dated Thursday, October 22nd, 2015, but I’m sure that I was working on it before then. Either way, we’re coming up to ten years - for context, that’s shorter than The Beatles’ whole recording career.
I finally finished the first draft in May 2023.

I know that all the greats say you have to “learn the rules before you can break them”, and when I finished my first draft I knew that when it comes to writing a novel, I had learned none of the rules, so I did something I thought I would never do - join a writing community.
Although it’s something I have always been passionate about, the thought of sitting around with other writers talking about writing seemed too ‘chin-strokey’ for my liking, but I wanted advice, I wanted feedback, and I didn’t want to get conned going to someone private.

I found the Writing Room: Link Here and signed up to have my first 10,000 words, my synopsis and my Agents’ letter read over. Boy oh Boy, what a revelation. I learned so much about what I needed to do to get my novel into shape (add 20,000 words to my novel for a start), and got some great feedback.

At this current moment in time - January 7th, 2024 - I have about 5,000 words to go to hit the magic number of 70,000 (the typical length of a novel - who knew) so I thought now would be a good time to start my blog again as I finally have some tangible experience to share with you if you are in a similar situation to me.

In the next couple of months I will finish my novel and be on the hunt for an agent. I will write a blog post at least every other week to document how I’m doing, and will be open to any questions.

I’m on Instagram as jonleebarneswriter

Let’s go get it.