On storytelling:
Storytelling is my big thing. As I get older, I get more critical of other people's stories and more determined to create those that are well thought out and structurally sound. This is why movies like "Avatar" bother me so much; it appeals to the senses but not thought. There was a lot of wasted opportunity and an 'adequate' story was stitched to high end special effects leaving little depth for the audience to hold onto.
I'm starting to work on the next project, the one after Tamino. It's a Hero story, something that's been mined to death. Yet I still find the really good ones to be compelling and I still want more. There are certain things that should be part of a Hero's tale that are often missing. I haven't read "Heart of Darkness," or the other books Conrad has written on the Hero's tale and I probably should, but one aspect that I find most important, and which is often missing from Hero stories is the sense of balance. Risking one's self is not enough; if the Hero is to succeed, to me, there should be a sense of balance to the whole equation; the Hero should lose something to 'pay' for the evil that's been vanquished. A prime example of this is Frodo's having to leave Middle Earth, that the lands he helped save offer him no comfort. It's sad yet also adds a quality and depth that can't be matched by the 'everyone's scrubbed and looking fine' endings that most Hero stories seem to have. Another, lesser but still important example of this is the very ending of the recent, "How to Train Your Dragon." It's a small detail, but extremely important to me, what happens to Hiccup there. It was a brave move by the studio to allow that to remain in the story and I applaud that.
The other thing that bothers me about a lot of stroytelling is the feeling that it's a given that there will be a love story involved. In many films, this feels tacked on at best and the characters' motivations often seem stretched. It's as if there simply can't be a gripping adventure unless there is a love story involved. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be love portrayed in such stories, just that it's better if the love aspect is a crucial part of the tale, and not something that's merely added because those telling the stories simply can't imagine there not being a love story in their tale somewhere. For my next comic, love will be part of the story, and will be a central, crucial aspect unlike 'Fite,' or 'Tamino.'
I'm really tired of writing being treated like a doormat in Hollywood and current literature. So many stories are coming out that seem to only have been checked for spelling and nothing else. I want stories that are not only well thought out but have been put through the grinder, well scrutinized for sense and balance. I'm really tired of the assumption that audiences will simply accept a few holes here and there, that areas of a movie or a book that cannot bear any moment of scrutiny are acceptable in small enough number. I hope that my own next story will be part of this, regardless of how it will be received. I appreciate craft, something that seems on the steady downswing these days.
