Saturday, April 22, 2006

Good from the bad

A few months back I went to the theater to see the latest Zorro movie. As I watched the movie I got a brilliant idea for a character. A hero who, like Zorro, who is a real person and doesn't have crazy super powers. It's been done before but I had my own little twist to this character. It's the character's motivation that truly makes him stand out. And of course I'm not going to tell you what my secret weapon is because I love to be vague in fear of someone stealing my phenomenal idea.
I've got this great character. I'm really excited. I'm thinking of notes faster than I can write them down. Then I go to write the story. The introduction to the character was boring. I just said this is the character rather than introduce him gradually throughout the story. Oh well, I'll work it out later. Then I continued to write the story, eventually forcing myself 'cuz it ain't happening. It sucks. I just keep repeating the same stuff and that stuff is the character, his motivation and his plan. There's no story.
I demand that I come up with a story for this guy and I do but it's the same old thing. This awesome character isn't going to cut it alone. He can't have the same lame downfall to bounce back from then triumph. He can't just get stabbed, pull the knife out and continue to take down his enemy. It's just too predictable, boring, cliche, over done. Call it what you want.
So I promise myself I will come up with something. Every night when I am trying to sleep I think about the story I'm currently writing and develop the story or just keep going over it. Still nothing.
Then inspiration struck. Yesterday, a situation occurred in life that was unjust. There was betrayal of friendship, accusations made and a person who lost many things very dear to them. It made me angry, sad, frustrated and(insert various other negative emotions here). But out of every crappy situation comes something good. Tonight as I dwelled on the situation I thought of how an over elaborate version of these events would make my story whole. It's beautiful. My excitement for the story has returned.

I know sometimes I write things about projects and I give no detail of the project. I apologize for this but I hate to give the story away . If someone were to love the idea and I never developed it, it would be disappointing. Or maybe someone would write it first and better. Since I don't have good writing skills all I got are my ideas. But really the reason that I write about projects is to share my frustration and joy. If I was going to give the whole story plot and character away in my blog, well then there would be little point in writing it. I'm sure there would be some point but whatever. Anyway, I hope the few people who actually read this aren't incredibly bored and annoyed by my stupid stories about writing. Sorry. Hopefully, one day I'll get something published and there will be something more entertaining to read than my crazy blog entries.

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