I have been worldbuilding in my series for nearly 3 years now. I'm starting to see the pieces come together. However, while talking about various battles, I have, without fail, gotten this comment:
"Wow, that sounds like a video game."
I don't believe this is a good or a bad thing. If nothing else, it'll give my work a slight twist on everything else on the market. However, so many of my scenarios are extremely sensory based. I have a world where music and sound is very important. There are areas where the world is literally being redrawn in front of the main characters. A friend whom I respect has voiced her opinion on how difficult it will be to properly display this world in a book.
This is a bit of a rant, but I guess my final question is this: in a fantasy universe where the world is constantly changing into extremely unique landscapes, will I be able to do the story justice on paper? I believe the answer is yes, but what kind of troubles should I expect to encounter?
Thanks in advance.
It does sound cool though.
I have one story that only works as a comic or other visual medium. I have another that started as a comic but is being reimagined as a book, and I'm not sure if it's an improvement or if it'd work better as a movie.
The point is that if it'd be better as a video game, then go with that. It's important to get the right medium for the story.
I wouldn't really want my stuff to read like a novelization of a video game, though. I'll stick with them looking like bad imitations of better science fiction, thank you.
(Not that I'm down on video games as an artform---I think with a certain oomph! behind them...attention to detail, to character, to theme, to meaning...one might someday see video games comparable to novels. (Comic books have reached this stage, after all---maybe some video games have made it and I haven't heard...))
Now, me on the other hand, I'm scared that by the time I figure out how to write well enough, "Jane" will have made the recreational reader all but extinct.
If your work feels to overkill in any direction, you may want to think about choosing an author close to the type of book you'd like to have as a finished product and see if you can't find anything of theirs in audio format. www.audible.com is a great site. I think there is a difference between listening to an author's work and reading it. Hearing the cadence of a story similar to the one you'd like to shape your own into may grant the light needed to find your own -just perfect you- voice for your story. Don't forget, though, it is YOUR story. And if you can see it one way and try to force it to fit what might seem like a more mainstream mold, it may begin to unravel. Overall, though, I think the concept is unique and interesting. It can't be too common as the gaming perspective is fairly new, and the games in the last five years blow away Mario, so you will have the edge of unusual and people like new ideas.
Some of the action is also very visual and aural. See, for example, the way you use magic in this series is through art (Painting, acting, dancing and playing music). Or, there's a battle where you fight something made of sound. Just stuff like that. It's very different, and some of the stuff is fairly sensory based.
I don't think I would intend for this to be a video game. I'm sold on the medium as an art form, but I believe that video games should be a more linear experience. There is way too much material for it to be a movie, and I feel like making this as a television series would throw off the entire pacing that I have in my head.
Thanks for all of the comments so far guys. Anybody have other advice? Anybody know of books that describe music and dancing as actions well?