Hi all! Castiel, here!

As my first post, I wanted to talk about, drumroll please!: CHARACTERS!

This is my face right now. XD

I had the task of reading through about 150 pages of pre-game story that had been developed before I came on board. This was filled with the stories of all 26 (main) characters, their origins, and their interactions with each other. Now, let me preface this by saying that the previous writer put his heart and soul into his creation, and I admire him for that. He was really dedicated to his work and I can tell that he loved these characters. However, there was one main problem with what I read…

 

Nothing happened. At all.

Yep, did that too.

As a screenwriter, I know the basics of creating characters. And good ones, to boot. A character needs motivation, drive, and want. As the great Kurt Vonnegut says, “Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” The simplest act of wanting something speaks volumes about the character himself. So when nothing happens in a story, that usually means that character doesn’t have a goal, which in turn leads to bore-fest. Now, I’m not saying that’s the case for ‘everything ever in existence ever…’ because there are of course outliers, particularly done by those who are the greatest writers of our time, but I’m generalizing this for our purposes.

Compelling characters have goals and that’s what drives them forward. Indiana Jones wanted the Ark of the Covenant. Luke Skywalker wanted to learn the ways of the Force. Neo wanted to kick the pants out of Agent Smith. The key word here is: ‘want.’ See where I’m going with this? Characters with goals make things happen!

So, after pulling my hair out about what I was reading, I spoke with Azrael and decided to do something drastic. This wasn’t a matter of me editing the piece, make it coherent in the timeline, or fix names of characters that we didn’t particularly like…

I was going to rewrite everything.

My muse was going to murder me...

What I wanted to do was start from scratch. I wanted to focus these characters down and give them clear goals that would either showcase their good, bring out their bad, and a lot of both.

I absolutely love the idea of female characters being the main focus of the story. They’re real people, rather than just sexy clothes on a two-dimensional character. I usually write from female character perspectives and I’m super psyched to stretch my legs in this massive world. So none of that is changing.

I have modified a lot of character origins, however, and I’ve established new familial ties between characters that changes the dynamic drastically. There will be more drama! *laughs manically*

Now I’m not really allowed to talk specifics, but I can give you a general example of what I’ve done. The following link gives fantastic examples of characters with great arcs and what can happen when characters have no personalities whatsoever, I can’t say it any better.

Let me refer you to the gloriousness that is RedLetterMedia’s “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review (Part 1 of 7)” In it, Plinkett details what specifically went wrong with the prequel, and he hits the nail on the head with what I experienced in my readings as well.

This genre of sci-fi and fantasy is specifically hard to write, especially when trying to emulate the greats like Tolkien and Herbert. We need some character to kind of represent the audience – asking the same questions that the audience is, introduce the audience to the same new world that the character is experiencing, and giving the audience some kind of normal person to relate to. It allows for the viewer or reader to stop asking, “Who are these people and why should I care?” and have them start asking, “Where the hell can I get more?”

I'm a... Wait, what?

If the audience gets confused, you’ll lose them – like that. And they’ll never come back.

I completely reworked the entire interaction between some of the characters, giving the reader the opportunity to step into the shoes of a character and just let go.

Another thing that I needed to change was the idea of a protagonist. I have always loved the idea of ensemble casts, but I think this story really needs to focus on one person that will help lead the readers through the journey. This just allows for the reader to have a helping hand through the world.

I’m a huge fan of Joseph Campbell’s “A Hero’s Journey” and I was heavily inspired by the events that transpire in the stories from his work.

Okay, maybe a little lecture.

All in all, I want to make sure you guys are as involved in this as possible. I always want to have you guys in mind and I don’t want to let you down. As for the story, the reader needs to explore the world just as the characters do. It’s part of the magic of reading. It’s also the magic of movie-making! As well as game-playing! And when I get this story done, maybe you will all be able to read it in the future.

Hopefully everything I’m trying to do will work out for the better.

And I think I’ve bored you all far too long for now, so I’ll sign off here. ^_^

 

I’ll update every once in a while to keep you guys current with where I am in the story. Hopefully as we get closer and closer to release, I can actually give you little bits and pieces!

So I’ll leave you with a little question so I know what you guys are interested in: Who is your favorite cinematic character?

Mine is Indiana Jones. Gotta say I have a thing for the adventures. ^_^

<3 Cas