Ryan couldn't sleep, so he made a video recommending books to read if you'd like to write comic books.
Why Do I Write?
Every so often when you've been working on writing projects, be they scripts, short stories, poems or whatever, you might reach a blocking point; a point in which you just can't find the words to follow the ones you've already typed/scribbled down. Sometimes, at these points, the self-doubt can kick in and the legitimacy of the whole project can be called into question. It's when this crushing self-doubt kicks in that I need to take a breath and remind myself why I write in the first place.
PLAYING GOD IS FUN
There are so many times in our lives where we don't have any or very-little control of what goes on around us. We can't stop the cab whose breaks failed and are barreling towards a crowded street corner. We can't stop natural disasters from ripping islands apart. We can't stop the Earth from careening into asteroid fields during it's yearly rotation around the sun. We have no say in that. We can however, create worlds using the power of our words alone and in that plane we reign supreme.
The Start of writing a new story is better than any sugar rush, drunk buzz or extracurricular high, for me. Nothing gets the blood pumping through my cerebellum better than when I'm trying to craft a world. Sometimes it takes a lot of planning, sometimes it's just a few key phrases that set the tone for the universe I'm building. When ideas start clicking into place like Lego's I can get lost in my own head imagining and crafting the various details and people who will inhabit my world. I hardly ever feel that writer's loneliness in the beginning stages of writing.
CHANGING PERSPECTIVE
Through writing, you can step behind the lenses of another person, riding shotgun on their experiences. You can assume the mantle of someone you've never met, never been like, and might not ever meet. You can endure their feelings, take a completely different political stance, "walk a mile in another man's shoes". Call it an escape if you want, or a vacation. For a little while, when you're writing as a character, you're not yourself anymore. You don't have to think about what a terribly boring day tomorrow is going to be at work. You just have to unravel your story through your character. They can feel whatever you like, whatever the story needs, and this disassociation from yourself, for me, helps me when I come back to the real world. Sometimes writing is just the sort of thinking time I need in order to process something stressful that was going on, or helps me see the other side of an argument a friend and I were having. I feel more well-rounded as a thinking human when I'm able to get some writing in.
FINDING SOMETHING TO SAY
Finally, I write to find something worth saying. So many books and movies and video games leave you with a lasting, resounding message that you can carry with you through the rest of your existence. I would like to have someone read a piece I wrote and come away from it thinking slightly different. Finding that 'something' is tricky. Sometimes it's not intentional, as with all forms of art, to a degree your work is subjective. I don't necessarily wish to seek fame or fortune, but if I can write something that resounds with others, something that one way or another motivates folks to do whatever their calling is, then I will consider myself a successful writer.
This is why I write. To help myself, to effect others, to change the world ever so slightly and have fun doing it.
Holiday Greeting from Justin!
2013, Justin also thinks you were weird
Episode 30 of the Write Idea Workshop follows up with Justin's list of favorite reads of 2013, some authors he found pretty excellent, and some goals and aspirations for the coming year! Give it a listen! Lots of comic book talk also.
2013, you've been weird
We're saying goodbye to 2013 with Episode 29 of The Write Idea Workshop!
This episode features the Top Five most Influential/Favorite Authors of 2013, and the Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2013, as well as some resolutions for the coming year and some schedule announcements.
Give it a listen and Keep on Writing!
Holiday Greetings from The Write Idea Workshop
New Episodes of The Write Idea Workshop coming soon, but in the mean time, here's a short video.
Go pick up Jac Kincaid's short story collection here:
Jac's Book
Haunted by Episode 26
Episode 26 of The Write Idea Workshop has escaped it's tomb and possessed our intrepid hosts!
In this episode, Ryan and Justin try to get to the bottom of why ghosts are so interesting in movies and books, go through some of the rules these undead abide by, and list their Top Ten favorite afterlife apparitions!
Spooky Month Begins!
For the month of October, The Write Idea Workshop is going to be hanging out under the bed, in the realm of nightmares, monsters and things that go bump in the night. Every episode this month, we intend to explore the things that scared us as kids, what the state of "horror" culture is, cultural differences on rules of ghosts, and all sorts of other SPOOKY things.
We kick off our month of monsters and ghouls with Episode 25. In this episode, Ryan and Justin get into the differences and blending of the Horror and Thriller genres, introduce some new reoccurring segments to the show, and talk about their Top Ten favorite Scary Stories.
Give that a listen over here
Keep Writing!
Cincinnati ComicCon 2013
New Episode of the Write Idea Workshop is up!
In the most recent episode, Ryan and Justin recap how awesome the Cincinnati ComicCon experience was, talk about their experiences with creators, and lay down some newly uncovered old rules/guides for writing. http://thewriteideas.org/episodes/2013/9/11/episode-23-comiccon-heroes
New Episode!
Episode 22 is up and running!
Coming next week: Ryan and Justin talk about the Cincinnati Comic Con and their adventures in networking.