One of the things I am planning to do with DS (the pile of things seem to grow by the day) is the absence of a single-source, demonic villian that we'll be able to point to for every malice and misdeed. I wanted to show the inherit malice possible in ourselves, through selfish actions that people choose without thought or care to its true signal-cascade effects. However, I didn't really have a concrete idea of what could happen until I saw Redbelt this weekend. Its notion of a strong but naive hero, betrayed by friendship and sidelined by good fortune, who will ultimately prevail because of the righteousness of goodness itself.
It wouldn't transfer over to DS directly--mostly because Van is in the position of power (even if dwarfed by other countries in the Alliance) and partly because he isn't really that type of character. Despite Fanelia's relative simplicity, Van distrusts, because of his status and because of his experiences, and then has to make an effort to let people in. But it's not impossible situation to create, for Van would trust someone he believes is reliable. And there are exponentially more possibilities if Hitomi is the harbinger.
The second idea I'm planning recently is the push of humanity evolution. Words get created and dropped. Events become history and become myths. Individuals are born and whole populations die. And soon an age passes. People come in waves to replace each other, to support and uphold their own ways of life. The passing of an age is sad, but full of promises--because the end marks the beginning.
The depressing thing about thinking and planning is that I am not producing anything. But I really, really think that this is necessary in my development, in DS's development. I am learning composure, I am learning patience, I am learning to dig deeper. I want so so much for DS to be an entity--a matured distillation of my dreams and feelings--where the fantasy world is there, ready for people to enter and enjoy and wrestle with their thoughts, until the lingering finish they didn't know they always wanted.
And I thank you for letting me be selfish and do this. For waiting.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Character Development
Wow, has it really been that long since I last posted? I guess being busy with work and ffxi again really alters my concept of normal time.
I keep going back and forth between thinking up possible conflicts and trying to expand the characters and cultures in DS, but I feel like these past weeks have been just running around in my hamster wheel. Perhaps it's my own inexperience with writing that none of my ideas have pushed me any closer to an actual, solid development for plot. But though I've tried hard to make things happen, I think the root problem is not basing my ideas on what I want to happen with V+H--not just what kind of romantic scenes they could have or what kind of experiences would be interesting--but my focus should be on what would make V+H develop into the characters they could become.
There should be events that make V+H realize their love, grow up more, extend their capabilities, and impact others positively as well as learning. There must be trials and tribulations, and accusations and wrong assumptions, and mistakes as well amends.
This should be a good new starting place.
Recently I've been getting into Shugo Chara, as I mentioned in my other blog. I see a lot of parallels between Van and Shugo Chara's Ikuto--qualities that I love in both. The draw of Ikuto's past and his secrets are so mysteriously boyish and manly at the same time, that I think it would really interesting to develop V+H this way, and the idea of the past is present already in DS even in its beginning ch, that pushing one of DS's themes down this path would be totally possible. Everyone has something they regret, or a secret joy, or a dream they keep only to themselves. Or maybe some confession that they are embarrassed to reveal.
One thing I would really like to know is the mystery of this scene:
I keep going back and forth between thinking up possible conflicts and trying to expand the characters and cultures in DS, but I feel like these past weeks have been just running around in my hamster wheel. Perhaps it's my own inexperience with writing that none of my ideas have pushed me any closer to an actual, solid development for plot. But though I've tried hard to make things happen, I think the root problem is not basing my ideas on what I want to happen with V+H--not just what kind of romantic scenes they could have or what kind of experiences would be interesting--but my focus should be on what would make V+H develop into the characters they could become.
There should be events that make V+H realize their love, grow up more, extend their capabilities, and impact others positively as well as learning. There must be trials and tribulations, and accusations and wrong assumptions, and mistakes as well amends.
This should be a good new starting place.
Recently I've been getting into Shugo Chara, as I mentioned in my other blog. I see a lot of parallels between Van and Shugo Chara's Ikuto--qualities that I love in both. The draw of Ikuto's past and his secrets are so mysteriously boyish and manly at the same time, that I think it would really interesting to develop V+H this way, and the idea of the past is present already in DS even in its beginning ch, that pushing one of DS's themes down this path would be totally possible. Everyone has something they regret, or a secret joy, or a dream they keep only to themselves. Or maybe some confession that they are embarrassed to reveal.
One thing I would really like to know is the mystery of this scene:
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