Musing On the Muse

 So, again it has been an inordinately long time since my last blog post. But I have a good reason this time. I have been busy plotting various nefarious and otherwise evil schemes to "Take over the World". Seriously, I have been scheming day and night in order to get into the proper headspace to write about villainy   There is nothing I like more as an amateur actor, and game master than playing a villain. There is just something so exciting and liberating about being able to "break the rules" and be "above the law". Unfortunately, in most cases I get cast as the the stolid confidant of the lead or as plucky comic relief. So when I have a chance to create a villain for my writing I savor those opportunities. Let's dig into a process you can use to make really nasty, but still multi-dimensional villains. Remember this is " A method" not " The method". Pick and choose what you find useful, as always, and trash or recycle the rest. ...

 Well, maybe it isn't ALL about the character. But it is essential that your characters cause an emotional reaction for your readers, watchers or players. The stronger the emotional connection, the better. This is important in all types of storytelling. Whether you are an actor on Television, Film or Stage, a play or screenwriter, a novelist or a short storyteller devotee, even a gamemaster for a Role Playing game. The things(The plot) that happen in the tale you are spinning are meaningless without your characters. Meaningless you say, tell me it isn't so! It really is. An Earthquake, a wasting curse, an invading army. All these things are terrifying or at least concerning on the surface, but they are abstract concepts and events unless you can tie them to someone in the environment that is experiencing or causing them. The Invading army seems so much more fearsome when you have a character who is rounded up and taken to a prisoner of war camp. The wasting curse is so much mor...

 Time has again gotten away from me, but I am back with another nugget of creative wisdom. Well at least I hope it is wisdom. It should at least get your creative juices flowing as we talk about what some feel is the inherit conflict in priorities between Characters and Plot. Personally, I believe that the idea of conflict between these two components in your stories is a fallacy. The two actually work together to accentuate  the dramatic points of your story. Some people claim that Plot is most important, because a story is about something happening. Others claim that you can have a story if it showcases enough character development. In my mind, there is no need to chose between the two. A piece of writing that is strictly character based, where there is little to know action or change to the setting/environs is typically called a vignette. Prior to the 1990s, most dramatic television shows were vignettes, but for a different reason. You can also consider a story a vignette i...

 I have lost count of how many times people have said these words to me over the years as we talked about writing or game mastering or acting. Since it seems to come up a lot it is worth exploring. What is Inspiration and is it really all it is cracked up to be. There will be people on both sides of thus discussion. People that feel that "they can only create when they are inspired" and then the rest of us. Those of us with deadlines, whether self imposed or not, and need to simply get something on the page.  I actually think that most of us fall into the latter category because we don't have the luxury of waiting for inspiration. I'm firmly in the camp that inspiration is the cherry on the top of your work. It is dessert or a treat to enjoy when it happens. However, creativity is like any other muscle, it needs exercise. If you wait around for inspiration to strike you, that muscle will atrophy. It is far better to work those muscles on a regular basis and when you d...

Nothing is worse for a creative person that to be stuck with nowhere to start. Now the fear of imperfect creation has a name. Atelodemiourgiopapyrophobia! Say that ten times fast. Basically, it is the fear that whatever you create will have inherent imperfections so much so that it is "better" not to commit such imperfect creations to paper (or digital composition). I've had this just a few times, but usually only as a result of abject exhaustion. Like, really super tired brain that probably could not have completed even a 50 piece puzzle kind of tired. However, for others this is a reality that happens regularly at the beginning of new stories or new segments/chapters of stories. It may happen when you are creating your initial outline or fleshing out a character brief for the first time. Some of my more artistically oriented friends (illustrators, painters, sculptors and composers) say the same thing happens to them when they look at a blank canvas, a block of wood or s...

So I am running way behind on getting a Blog post on Events put together, so I thought i would try out ChatGPT and see how well it can capture the concept of an Event driving your story. I must say, I am impressed with what it came up with. This is a topic you could dive much more deeply into, but the AI did ok with this task. Don't get the idea that I will use AI to generate my blogs regularly, but it seemed an interesting topic to try it out on. It is also a very interesting tool when you are facing a blank page and have no idea how to start. Perhaps I will tackle using AI to break writer's block next time. For the now though, check out the AI's take on the "E" component to the MICE quotient. Enjoy! In the intricate tapestry of storytelling, the choice of a central event can be the driving force that propels a narrative into the hearts and minds of readers. Whether it's a momentous occasion or a subtle turning ...