I love writing and have written epic treatments for my epic's, that always star some variation of someone I'd like to be, and even if they put the biggest names in the biz into the role (Tom Cruise, etc.) It would piss me off and make me near insane with anger that I couldn't play one of my male hero's!
Also the fact I haven't "come to power" yet , you know that stage you get to after you've had a hit with your cheap to make "American Graffiti" which then lets them say, "Okay kid, you can make this weird one with the wookie's (that deep down you know is THE EPIC MUTHA'!) and for me would be where I say, yes we do that one now, I co-direct, star, etc.
So my request for help is based on this question
Q: HOW do I find something to write about that I love enough to keep me motivated end to end, that doesn't in my minds eye star "me", but that I love just as much as my epics that always star me or some computer gen'd version of me, that would most likely be a come to power hit for me?
Here were my first answers PLEASE add some more for me:
1. Something involving a female star (female superhero?) 2. Something involving an animal (Picturing myself as that animated animal,) 3. Something commercial (mentally pre-starring someone I really dig like Hopkins, or Mckellan) thought of in top spot. 4. Identify things that mean the most to you, (music, human respect, nature) and build themes upon them.?)
Other ideas how I could find the love to make my "come to power" hits, so that I could "be in power" to protect my epics?
Thank you! UMO
P.S. If you are one of the doubters who just wants to reply with "Look kid, you'll be F'n lucky if they do anything for you, get real, your thinking to big, negative this, that etc...", Might I recommend an Anthony Robbins book to you, or perhaps one by Barbara Sher?
Others with some actual "here's what you could do" advice PLEASE I'm begging you, lay it down for me!
posted
Well, I'm not sure how to help you exactly, but I can give you a what not to do. Don't stop writing about the things you care about. Your stories will become flat, people will see that there's no soul in them. If you can't get into female characters, don't write them. Besides, it you're that tied into your stories, even if you can get into writing about a female or an animal or something like that you'll still feel married to your story. Instead of the hero being you the hero will be the woman of your dreams, heck, even the woman you would want to be if you were a woman. It just won't work.
As for your current heroes, I think we all write about characters who are what we'd like to be to a certain extent. I do. One thing I did with a main character in my current novel is give her a pretty bad flaw. This makes her more human.
And just generally, don't try so hard to make the character be what you'd like to be. You're setting up an impossible standard that can only drive you nuts. Try to get to know your hero more like a friend and less like you.
Then, set aside the work for a while before you get feedback on it. If its been six months and you've been working on something else maybe you won't feel quite as married to it.
posted
Why not try a story that is not epic, or heroic, or anything else spectacular. Normal people have been the unfortunate hero of many stories, and most of them were more conerned with the conflict being over than with their own image.
And if you haven't already, go get OSC's "Characters and Viewpoints" book. Read it. Create a character that would be different from you or your desired hero types. Write some short stories using different characters and see how it works.
posted
Damon Knight offers a good suggestion. As you're thinking about the story with you as the hero, look around at the other characters and find one that you like and write that character's story.
Posts: 130 | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
You have to write the stories that appeal to you, and if they are more epic nature, you might never be interested in telling a quieter tale. I don’t see that being a particular problem – its not like you have to get a special effects budget approved and funded for your novel. If you mean epic as in 10 book series, that’s probably not the place to try and make a first sale. But you could still have something with the grand flavor of an epic in a single book. Think Hobbit versus Lord of the Rings. It is simply a matter of adjusting the epics scale. And even the original Star Wars is basically a stand alone. We only got the rest of it because of the success of the first.
As for the character as self issue, really spend some time developing you characters as their own people. Don’t you ever wonder how other people see the world? Characters are a way to explore that. Certainly, there will be a bit of you in any character, because they are your creation, but they aren’t you. Spend some time giving them their own history, explore how they would feel about different ideas and situations. As they develop an individuality of their own, I would think you would be able to distance yourself from them more.
Usually, you don’t want your characters to be you. You’re too close to yourself to always see all the intertwining of history and personality, and you may not feel the need to really explore those things for your reader since they are so familiar to you, which is what can really flesh out a character. Plus, it could make it too easy to turn a story into wish-fulfillment. Unpleasant things need to happen to characters to keep conflict high so a story remains engaging. Most people really don’t want unpleasant things happening to them.
OSC’s Character and Viewpoint is a great book. For more character ideas, Nancy Kress’s Dynamic Characters is also a good read. Damon Knight's Creating Short Fiction is also goo, although I don't remember its character advice specifically.
[This message has been edited by GZ (edited December 10, 2003).]
posted
I have always had trouble staying dedicated to a story I am writing. So much in fact I have abandonned several good plot lines. It was either due to the fact that I couldn't handle it well enough, or because I just got bored. One thing that Garry Disher says is when you are feeling bored the best thing to do is stop and put it aside for a while. Go for a walk or work on something else. Try and relax your brain. He advises don't write when you are bored, because the reader will tell you were by losing their focus as you do. Basically, your mood affects your writing.
Darkstorm, is that book out of print? I have been looking for weeks and can't find that book anywhere!
posted
Character and Viewpoint is not out of print. It's at most books stores (in the reference section, by the dictionaries), or the online booksellers. Most library systems seem to carry it as well.
[This message has been edited by GZ (edited December 11, 2003).]
posted
New or used, it doesn't matter, it is worth the money. It is one of the two (in this series) I have read that I will take the time to read more than once.
Posts: 807 | Registered: Mar 2003
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