How to write with less epic fail (Follow me, and don't do as I do.)
So me and my pal cinnamonical were talking, and she informed me about literature she was reading about....writing literature. (It occurs to me that I should really get names and books from her, but this entry IS a work in progress....) I started to realize that some of the outlines in the book are things I'm doing now without reading a single book on writing, and so I guess for my edification (and other people who want to break in to writing and understand where rock bottom is), I'll discuss what happens when my ideas make sweet monkey love with the keyboard.
1) Go here. It's where my vomit on the internet is located, and it's the textbook for this lecture.
http://alleycatcomics.pbworks.com/FrontPage.
As a great philosopher said, 'You only write crap when you don't realize what crap is.'
Okay, okay. Now for the unmagick.
A)Got bread?
Basically, I think of my idea=story writing method as a sandwich. As in, I begin with the beginning scenario and an end scenario before I do anything else. Once I've made sure that these buttery fresh slices of bread are just right, I can add toppings, or in this case the scenes.
I. Scene it?
Rather than write out a story that contains certain scenes, I'll come up with scenes that eventually make up the whole story. For example, I may have a fight in Greyashe that I really want to do, so I'll illustrate the fight -with music- (more on that soon!) And have it suspended in mid air until I can write the circumstances around it. It's sort of like putting peanut butter on the sandwich by starting with a small circle and spreading outward. Eventually it covers the sandwich whole, but it's that dot that begins everything.
II. Don't fuck with my car radio.
I'm really really really really big on music while writing. I can't explain how many times I've gotten stuck on a scene, and just the right song comes up on my play list. I know this isn't much in the way of actual writing and or technical skill, but this is usually how scenes begin and evolve in my mind. WD has a lot of these...for example, the end of rule one is one long commercial for Nujabes's 'World end Rhapsody.'(God bless his musically epic soul.) It also illustrates my scene drabble above. Most of rule one came from that single scene. I knew what I wanted to happen (a fight//escape involving a construction site.), and got the characters to that scene using interlocking scenes, and one kickass piece of music. (Which you can find here BTW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGJP_eI3j_g)
B) USA network isn't the only place where you can find character.
As odd as it seems, characters usually don't come for me until after the bread is out of the oven. By now, I already have a good idea of the type of story I want to write, and the world where the story takes place. Characters come at this point for me because I have a soft spot for character driven stories. Greyashe (check the textbook.) is probably my only series with a 'plot', and so the whole process for creating that series was different from say, Vivid or World Destruction. (More on Grey later.) Usually the protagonist comes wayyyy before the antagonist though. I may have half of the toppings on the sandwich before I even put on the relish that is villainy. (What? Relish is evil! evil!) I have no problem taking my time....I'll often add little quirks and details to characters and side characters for a while....hell, sometimes their goal isn't even clear at this point. We aren't born knowing what we want to do, and that's something I emulate when I write. For the more character driven stories like WD and Vivid, this process takes a little bit longer. I'll give a sudden jolt of plot induced goodness, but for the most part it's about the characters being the characters.
I. How now brown cow?
My characters are built on my whims. No literally. I may say 'I want a female protagonist', or 'A kid.' And go for that. If the story is a sandwich, the characters are the finger food; especially since I'm partial for character based plot. Of course, one other point I have to consider is how much he or she fits with the 'world' that I've built for them. Do I want a law abiding citizen? A traveling badass? A Jekyll/Hyde character? The best characters are often the ones who have conflict with their surroundings. It's cliched to be sure, but what would motivate a otherwise sane character to throw themselves in harm's way? Pssst....the WORLD. In any case, I try my best to keep from reusing character archetypes. Though sometimes it's not originality that stands out, but the badass way that archetypes are reused.
C) Say what?
Dialog is huge. Huger than huge. Huger than that. .....See what I mean? That doesn't sound at all as awesome as 'Character dialog is the grand tapestry that weaves harrowing tales of adventure and romance.' Though all kidding aside, Dialog is right up there with music, except more important; no one can hear the music vapors coming from your head. As an avid manga reader, I can often ignore 'ugly' art if the dialog of the characters is engrossing enough to keep me interested.
I. Who's line is it anyway?
Character creation begins with a single phrase. Not 'abra-cadabra' but what they'd say in a given situation. If a line is memorable, I can begin building the character from there. I use quick scenes as hopping points that lead to a bigger (and tastier) plot, so dialog scenes work like revolving smorgasbords. I'll cycle through a scene, first to illustrate time and action, and then to add dialog. This often comes in the form of argument. (Read World Destruction in the text book for an example of this. Heck, Vivid's full of back and forths too.) Argument (to me), can often open up a window into past events between characters without actually having to write about them. This in turn creates another plot point that I can jump to, or another stop on the smorgasbord. Oh yes, dialog is often the only way the reader can get insight on a character when he or she is alone (though this is usually of the inner variety.....usually.)
II. He said, she said.
I've got a quick scene, and the characters are talking...but who in the world is saying what? In early phases of story writing, if there are two characters in a scene, I just have whomever say whatever. Haphazard? Yes. Don't doubt it's effectiveness though. Claire and Van's banter (which I'll admit isn't much in Grey episode one, since it's a summary...) Came from me tweaking around the two's vocabulary and changing their personalities until something 'fit.' At the beginning, Van was more docile, even allowing Claire to push him around. This lead to a very one sided conversation however; Claire was doing the work for two. If Van was going to get a word in edgewise, I would need to 'toughen him up' so to speak. I decided then to let him lead the conversation, which gives him a slight bit more control without him seeming like a jerk. Claire on the other hand didn't change much, she's still reluctant to give information about herself. Again this is a little bit more in depth than what's on the wiki -I am trying to include more dialog scenes in later summaries...- but often it's giving a character one extra or less line that can define their personalty in a quick scene.
1) Go here. It's where my vomit on the internet is located, and it's the textbook for this lecture.
http://alleycatcomics.pbworks.com/FrontPage.
As a great philosopher said, 'You only write crap when you don't realize what crap is.'
Okay, okay. Now for the unmagick.
A)Got bread?
Basically, I think of my idea=story writing method as a sandwich. As in, I begin with the beginning scenario and an end scenario before I do anything else. Once I've made sure that these buttery fresh slices of bread are just right, I can add toppings, or in this case the scenes.
I. Scene it?
Rather than write out a story that contains certain scenes, I'll come up with scenes that eventually make up the whole story. For example, I may have a fight in Greyashe that I really want to do, so I'll illustrate the fight -with music- (more on that soon!) And have it suspended in mid air until I can write the circumstances around it. It's sort of like putting peanut butter on the sandwich by starting with a small circle and spreading outward. Eventually it covers the sandwich whole, but it's that dot that begins everything.
II. Don't fuck with my car radio.
I'm really really really really big on music while writing. I can't explain how many times I've gotten stuck on a scene, and just the right song comes up on my play list. I know this isn't much in the way of actual writing and or technical skill, but this is usually how scenes begin and evolve in my mind. WD has a lot of these...for example, the end of rule one is one long commercial for Nujabes's 'World end Rhapsody.'(God bless his musically epic soul.) It also illustrates my scene drabble above. Most of rule one came from that single scene. I knew what I wanted to happen (a fight//escape involving a construction site.), and got the characters to that scene using interlocking scenes, and one kickass piece of music. (Which you can find here BTW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGJP_eI3j_g)
B) USA network isn't the only place where you can find character.
As odd as it seems, characters usually don't come for me until after the bread is out of the oven. By now, I already have a good idea of the type of story I want to write, and the world where the story takes place. Characters come at this point for me because I have a soft spot for character driven stories. Greyashe (check the textbook.) is probably my only series with a 'plot', and so the whole process for creating that series was different from say, Vivid or World Destruction. (More on Grey later.) Usually the protagonist comes wayyyy before the antagonist though. I may have half of the toppings on the sandwich before I even put on the relish that is villainy. (What? Relish is evil! evil!) I have no problem taking my time....I'll often add little quirks and details to characters and side characters for a while....hell, sometimes their goal isn't even clear at this point. We aren't born knowing what we want to do, and that's something I emulate when I write. For the more character driven stories like WD and Vivid, this process takes a little bit longer. I'll give a sudden jolt of plot induced goodness, but for the most part it's about the characters being the characters.
I. How now brown cow?
My characters are built on my whims. No literally. I may say 'I want a female protagonist', or 'A kid.' And go for that. If the story is a sandwich, the characters are the finger food; especially since I'm partial for character based plot. Of course, one other point I have to consider is how much he or she fits with the 'world' that I've built for them. Do I want a law abiding citizen? A traveling badass? A Jekyll/Hyde character? The best characters are often the ones who have conflict with their surroundings. It's cliched to be sure, but what would motivate a otherwise sane character to throw themselves in harm's way? Pssst....the WORLD. In any case, I try my best to keep from reusing character archetypes. Though sometimes it's not originality that stands out, but the badass way that archetypes are reused.
C) Say what?
Dialog is huge. Huger than huge. Huger than that. .....See what I mean? That doesn't sound at all as awesome as 'Character dialog is the grand tapestry that weaves harrowing tales of adventure and romance.' Though all kidding aside, Dialog is right up there with music, except more important; no one can hear the music vapors coming from your head. As an avid manga reader, I can often ignore 'ugly' art if the dialog of the characters is engrossing enough to keep me interested.
I. Who's line is it anyway?
Character creation begins with a single phrase. Not 'abra-cadabra' but what they'd say in a given situation. If a line is memorable, I can begin building the character from there. I use quick scenes as hopping points that lead to a bigger (and tastier) plot, so dialog scenes work like revolving smorgasbords. I'll cycle through a scene, first to illustrate time and action, and then to add dialog. This often comes in the form of argument. (Read World Destruction in the text book for an example of this. Heck, Vivid's full of back and forths too.) Argument (to me), can often open up a window into past events between characters without actually having to write about them. This in turn creates another plot point that I can jump to, or another stop on the smorgasbord. Oh yes, dialog is often the only way the reader can get insight on a character when he or she is alone (though this is usually of the inner variety.....usually.)
II. He said, she said.
I've got a quick scene, and the characters are talking...but who in the world is saying what? In early phases of story writing, if there are two characters in a scene, I just have whomever say whatever. Haphazard? Yes. Don't doubt it's effectiveness though. Claire and Van's banter (which I'll admit isn't much in Grey episode one, since it's a summary...) Came from me tweaking around the two's vocabulary and changing their personalities until something 'fit.' At the beginning, Van was more docile, even allowing Claire to push him around. This lead to a very one sided conversation however; Claire was doing the work for two. If Van was going to get a word in edgewise, I would need to 'toughen him up' so to speak. I decided then to let him lead the conversation, which gives him a slight bit more control without him seeming like a jerk. Claire on the other hand didn't change much, she's still reluctant to give information about herself. Again this is a little bit more in depth than what's on the wiki -I am trying to include more dialog scenes in later summaries...- but often it's giving a character one extra or less line that can define their personalty in a quick scene.