Dear Readers:
2019 has started strong, and I have a new story underway.
It’s a baby book with children’s illustrations.
The ever-so-skilled Katerina Dotneboya (Pokeweed artist) has agreed to do artwork on this venture.
It’s an ocean tale complete with critters and vivid, seafaring imagery.
Be on the lookout for updates regarding this and other exciting things in the coming weeks!
Thank you to all my readers & supporters,
Brian
WHEELMAN (in paperback) is going away on 5/31.
Go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes today and grab 1, 2, or 20 copies and share with others. For Prime members, shipping is free on eligible orders. Let’s see how many we can get in circulation by month’s end.
Here’s a Fill-in-the-Blank Story Game I play at home, in hopes of getting a new pet one day:
What’s the best story title you’ve ever heard, read, seen?
One that makes you laugh, cry, hide under the covers. Maybe it does all 3 of those things. Maybe it’s one you haven’t read in a while. It could be a movie title. The name of a city you hope to visit before you die. One on your bucket list?
I’m currently working on a short story, and I’ve tentatively titled it “Lobster Meat is Sweet.” It’s silly and fun, and it makes me laugh when I read it. (Yes. It does have pertinence to the story itself.) But, that would make it even better if it didn’t have a connection.
What’s a title that cracks you up every time you read it?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Brave New World, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Where are you going?, Where have you been?, The Rockinghorse Winner, The Dead, Popular Mechanics, etc. etc.
Take a stab at it! I’d love to know some of your favorite titles. There’s SO MUCH in a name!!
Yesterday, we explored the journey that a hero must undertake in any great story. Likewise, we discussed heroic feats of greats such as Neo from The Matrix, Frodo, and Luke Skywalker.
Those that represent the light. We cheer for them, because we are able to assimilate their victory into our own lives. If young Skywalker wins…we all do. If Frodo destroys the one ring, then, Sauron is gone. It’s an exciting end to an epic saga.
The way it should be.
But, what happened to make the ending so sweet in each tale?
Why was the victory so satisfying? The win awe-inspiring?
I’ll save you the lecture on rising conflict and plot points, but suffice it to say that one thing made each hero’s journey so utterly monumental and terrific–
The Villain.
Yes. I love the cry that we sometimes hear from the bad guy camps around the cinematic (and literary) world: “Hey! We’re people too!”
It’s true. The bad guys make the story a lot of times. Think about it.
They are all villains drawn up to make the hero’s journey even more epic. The more 3-D a villain becomes it allows the storyline to become even richer. The rising conflict reaches a peak that draws the reader/audience into the turmoil.
Look at how much Anakin Skywalker changes from Phantom Menace (Star Wars 1) to Revenge of the Sith (3). He becomes Darth Vader. Not just a small shift from bad-to-worse but a complete overhaul as a person. The once highly touted Jedi is no more. The seduction of the dark side is too much for him. And thus, a villain for the ages is born.
I want to keep using Darth Vader as an example of the magnificent height that a villain can reach in making a storyline epic. Yes. He gives in to the dark side. But, his journey started as a Hero’s Journey.
Talk about a twist of fate, right?
Anakin was set on a course for greatness…to become a Jedi respected by all. Yet, instead of delivering on those promises, he crushes them. Anakin becomes Darth Vader and rejects peace for war. He unleashes a hell on the goodness around him, and he casts his quest for heaven aside.
It’s heartbreaking and…uniquely its own take on the “hero gone astray” motif. But…there is redemption.
*Spoiler alert*
Darth sees his son Luke in trouble with the Emperer and saves him from death. As a result of his spiritual change, Darth is restored as Anakin Skywalker just before his death. The hero-turned-villain-turned-hero has come full circle. It isn’t something we’re used to seeing in literature (or film), and the range of this villain makes for one of the best examples of all-time.
Please take in this next part, because it isn’t the model of a villain existing for the sole purpose of giving the hero some opposition, someone to fight. Yeah. The fighting is nice and battle sequences are, too. But, it’s the humanity of the villain that makes the story so well-balanced.
Again, think of your favorite story of all-time.
Got one?
Now…imagine that story without the villain roaming around, wreaking havoc.
Is it as good?
I surely hope not.
Stories given 5-stars, 2 Thumbs up, 10/10 ratings have a beginning, middle, and end. The characters depart, initiate, and return. But, the truly great ones also have flesh-and-blood good guys and bad guys fighting for their lives.
And sometimes the bad guys might’ve once been good guys and aren’t quite sure how to become good guys again…And just maybe…they do learn by the end of the tale.
