Last week while in the midst of writing the third book of The Body Hunters Series we had the discussion of how far we really wanted to delve into our mythology. Though our series is about a pair of detectives with extraordinary abilities which they use to solve mysteries; at its heart our story is about two unique people working together while trying to sort out the difficulties of their relationship. What we had in mind was creative and would have made for an interesting story, but was it so far into paranormal mythology that it would turn off the readers?
As an example we referenced the HBO series True Blood. Though I'm late getting into the series, starting halfway through Season 5, the common complaint I hear about it is that they got too convoluted. People miss the earlier episodes when it was a scandalous supernatural tale about who hooked up with whom. I can say the same about a show I enjoyed during its first season ABC's Revenge. The first season was simple; a young woman with a list of names going after the people who wronged her. The second season of Revenge was too far removed from the simple concepts of season one. I gave up watching halfway through and to date have yet to even watch the second season finale.
Keeping these lessons in mind, we decided to scale back on the storyline we were planning. Though the storyline is still present, it's not an all encompassing plot like we originally planned.
While it would have been a compelling story with deeper supernatural elements, we listen to our readers first and foremost. Though our superfans enjoy the paranormal activity that brings our characters together, the thing they enjoy the most is the human connections and relationships. We don't want to alienate our readers by introducing concepts that are too out there. So using these TV shows as examples of what happens when you don't give your fans what they want, we decided to ramp up the drama and a little boom-chica for good measure.
Showing posts with label creating mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creating mythology. Show all posts
Monday, August 12, 2013
Sunday, November 18, 2012
More Drama Please!
I grew up feeding my imagination soap operas. My days were filled with the sinister escapades of Asa Buchanan on One Life to Live or wondering how Erica Kane was going to tell her latest beau that secret she'd been holding on to for the past six months. After getting home from school, I'd sit with my mom, engrossed in the dramatic story lines.
I find that same drama, working its way into our writing. We're nearing the halfway point in Book 2 of our series. My co-author and I were doing some writing the other night, when she conjured up this mysterious new character. She IM'd me the character specifics and a scene she'd written with him in it. Like a runaway freight train we were barrelling down the tracks with a whole new mythology that could actually stand on it's own. The fantastic feeling of creating and taking new directions is beyond exhilarating!. Oh, and naps help recharge the creative mind when your in a slump. The first soap opera i ever saw was Dark Shadows, the original one on television. The imagery that conjured up in my very young imagination was far more than even than the TV show was airing. I'd sit and create in my head whole episodes that didn't even exist. Who new then I was doing what is now called Fan Fiction. I was too young to put it down in words. Then came all the other wonderful daytime dramas with the twists and turns of love and life. We talked about these characters almost everyday as if they were real, even though we knew they weren't. It fed our innate human need for gossip, drama and suspense. With the demise of some of my favorite soaps, (OLTL, AMC you will always live on in my heart) I am not surprised to see many people turning to even more dramatic shows like Sons of Anarchy or Dexter, True Blood or any number of nighttime dramas and finding the office water cooler talk revolving around them. People want and need the drama and the intensity, the escape and fantasy of our own everyday humdrum lives. It's a formula as old as Greek and Roman mythology. Those stories were told and handed down with just as much twists and turns as any drama today as any real student of mythology knows.
I make no apologies for the drama related in our current and future books. It fills a need. My own. My writing partner and i write for ourselves as any good writer should, but we humbly invite you to share in that ride and hope you enjoy the fantasy.
The Body Hunters (Volume 1)
I find that same drama, working its way into our writing. We're nearing the halfway point in Book 2 of our series. My co-author and I were doing some writing the other night, when she conjured up this mysterious new character. She IM'd me the character specifics and a scene she'd written with him in it. Like a runaway freight train we were barrelling down the tracks with a whole new mythology that could actually stand on it's own. The fantastic feeling of creating and taking new directions is beyond exhilarating!. Oh, and naps help recharge the creative mind when your in a slump. The first soap opera i ever saw was Dark Shadows, the original one on television. The imagery that conjured up in my very young imagination was far more than even than the TV show was airing. I'd sit and create in my head whole episodes that didn't even exist. Who new then I was doing what is now called Fan Fiction. I was too young to put it down in words. Then came all the other wonderful daytime dramas with the twists and turns of love and life. We talked about these characters almost everyday as if they were real, even though we knew they weren't. It fed our innate human need for gossip, drama and suspense. With the demise of some of my favorite soaps, (OLTL, AMC you will always live on in my heart) I am not surprised to see many people turning to even more dramatic shows like Sons of Anarchy or Dexter, True Blood or any number of nighttime dramas and finding the office water cooler talk revolving around them. People want and need the drama and the intensity, the escape and fantasy of our own everyday humdrum lives. It's a formula as old as Greek and Roman mythology. Those stories were told and handed down with just as much twists and turns as any drama today as any real student of mythology knows.
I make no apologies for the drama related in our current and future books. It fills a need. My own. My writing partner and i write for ourselves as any good writer should, but we humbly invite you to share in that ride and hope you enjoy the fantasy.
The Body Hunters (Volume 1)
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