Tales from the Blue Wendigo

So this is my new blog theme, writing. I have one observation and I think others share this view.

I can come up with endless ideas and plot lines. Fancy little twists and story ideas. But that will not get me very far in writing, or at least will not make my writing memorable or enjoyable.

If you think back on the books you remember most, the movies that are your favorites, it’s the characters that you related to, not the story.

Strong quirky characters that you can root for. You don’t necessarily have to relate to them as people, but you have to care enough about them to care about the story.

They could even be villians. I think back fondly about Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar (Neil Gaiman’s book Neverwhere). I can’t forget those two gentlemen.

I think about Star Wars, the first three. Han Solo was an amazing character, rich in detail. The second three Star Wars movies were not very memorable at all. They seemed to rely on special effects instead of good old fashion story telling. (I personally think that George Lucas is overrated)

So this is what I struggle with, ways to come up with interesting characters. In fact, i want to write a story where the character comes first and the story idea comes second. That never happens for me.

-Jason-