Hey Folks! 

The news is grim all throughout the world. Every government has mobilized the full might of their resources to fight COVID19 which is already posing an existential threat to the comic industry. My own personal saga began with deciding to cancel Emerald City Comic Con which seems like ages (three weeks) ago. Now the full might of the comic industry has coalesced into a facebook group called "Planned C" to try and save the industry or at least reshape it in the wreckage that follows.

I know it's egocentric, but I can't help but feel that our little industry has been the canary in the coal mine. Things look like they're about to get a lot worse before they get better. Sorry for being grim, folks, but it's with a serene sense of surrealism that I write this as a recollection of the times. I feel like balancing between pretending or acting like things are normal when they so clearly very are not. 

Personally I've been thinking about humanity a lot and our inmutable natures. How we tend to face the same things and react in the same ways in rhythms familiar yet novel for the age. History seems like a strange comfort in times like these, but what else can we use to learn about the future if not the past? 

Anyway, it's taken days to get this out. Sign of the times! And of the very immutable nature of humans ;)

Okay then. 

That's the self diss that  better not miss diss 

cause it gone eat your, mistress.

[ // social distancing // \ ]

Ray  

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It's been a hard slog the last couple of days when it comes to writing. I can't quite decide what I want to work on and find myself hopping between three projects, pecking away a little at each. I don't think that's a good strategy long term but I find myself stuck and in a downswing in terms of story and a bit paralyzed by imposter syndrome. Everything that I come up with seems so contrived and bad. 

I've definitely been here before. I think most people who are creative find themselves here sometimes if not often. I ... am telling myself unconvincingly to go through the work and to focus on one thing at a time. Ironically, this blog has been an anchor for the past couple of weeks, so I'm glad I got this, at least. 

What a consolation prize. I am currently hopping between writing and thinking and watching and reading and everything seems a jumbled mess or inconceivable height and why even bother trying to climb when some things and people are just clearly at another level. WHO CAN RELATE? That's a bad Logic reference. 

I work hard everydayayayayay....

Writing sometimes can be such an up and down thing. When I have a story or scene or character nailed it's some kind of high. An amazing thrill knowing that what you created works and you're the cool badass mofo behind it. You live for those moments. High brow it's finding that nugget of truth or whatever, but low brow it's just ego, honestly - I made this. I willed it into existence. 

Nothing quite like it. Those who know are those who crave. And then there's the opposite feeling.

The ego death. The hesitancy. The fear. Of nothingness. Of contrivance. Foolishness. For even attempting. Comparing. Dreaming. Doing? For who are you to think it through, the lives of those beyond your own. Is it arrogant to even try? 

I don't know. Probably. Certainly feels that way right now. But this too shall pass.

So sayeth the Toilet Paper Sages. 

Covid be thy crown. 


Ray 
​2020

"When you find yourself lost, look at the map for instructions"  - Michael Arndt

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I don't know about you, but I find myself lost quite a bit when it comes to writing. I would say that a good 20-35% of my process at any given time consists of reviewing the fundamentals of story structure. Some people argue that structure is really the only thing that you can teach when it comes to writing... either everything else - prose, dialogue, characters, and world - can only be improved through experience, or they only stem from story itself, so structure is actually story  uh uh wait. Huh?

Okay. Anyway. Here are five resources I find myself going back to constantly to relearn story:

Story Circle is Dan Harmon's interpretation of  Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, which in turn is a distillation of universal story elements derived by analyzing epic poems, which, before written down, were passed down via oral traditional for probably a really long time (we don't really know the answer but it was probably a long time after we learned how to talk that we learned how to write things down much less think of writing them down for something as trivial as entertainment. That's, like, a long time, man! 

Like all of the structures linked here, the Hero's Journey is great as both a starting point and diagnostic tool for your story. You use it to start laying out plot or to analyze when something isn't working. It also may provide insight into what is missing for a particular arc or scene and can be compressed or expanded to apply to scenes, sequences, acts, and entire stories or trilogies. 

In all its forms, story is a cycle that reflects the human condition. 

Kishōtenketsu is a way of breaking down stories originating in the East and formalized by the Japanese who gave it a name. Kishōtenketsu ​ shares many similarities with structures of a western origin with subtle - yet distinctive - differences that on the surface seem either painfully obvious or inanely profound. 

At its core, we're talking about the differences between Eastern and Western culture reflected through the interpretation of narrative. I suspect with the success of Parasite that Kishōtenketsu will gain a lot of mindshare among authors in the years ahead. 

Anatomy of Chaos is a proponent of Four Act Sequence Structure for features, which breaks down traditional three act structure in 24 key story beats and four acts. This is a common and useful paradigm taught at many universities with screenwriting programs. 

The key advantage to Sequence Structure over traditional three act paradigms is the more robust direction provided by splitting traditional Act 2 into two smaller acts, each with its own set of six beats. A lot of people find this helpful in prompting to come up with - "what's next?" On a basic level that's all these different structures are: tools to help you construct the mechanisms of your story. Use them when you need to get unstuck. 

Guess what part of the story we've been working on lately?

The title of this video is a bit of a misnomer: although the focus is on Endings, an Ending is just the payoff for all of the work that you set up in the Beginning, so this video is really a catch-all guide on how to write screenplays.

Arndt says that if you have only one takeaway from his lecture, it should be that great stories have three stakes: external, internal, and philosophical. ​ Great stories explore a clash of intractable values. Good stuf, this video. One of the best out there! 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the first structural paradigm I learned - good ole' classic 3 act structure as told by Syd Field.

Syd gets a lot of guff these days, but I'm not sure why. If I had to guess, it would be something related to some of our innate tribalistic instincts giving rise inevitably to majority and minority schools of thought, all of which is productive as it the difference of opinion is what provides for critical thought which is turn pushes new ideas? No doubt 3-Act Structure is the oldest of the old schools, mainest of the mainstream. 

I keep hinting at it, but to be clear: all of these structures and paradigms are basically talking about the same stuff, just with very small yet distinct interpretations. None is more correct than the other. At the end of the day they're imperfect explanations of a the most abstract of concepts: story. The Dao that is the Dao is not the Dao and all that jazz... 

These are all guides to help you master story, which is a personal journey of discovery. 

Good luck and keep writing! 

​Ray 

I have currently playing on in the background True Detective Season 3. It's research for a new project we're in the initial stages of laying the track for. We're trying to find out what the show is about, fleshing it out in order to get to an outline which will be used to give birth to a script which will hopefully give birth to something else.

I feel bad about not giving the show my full attention. I've told myself that I shouldn't watch things with my attention split - that to really understand I need to be present and focused. Alas, I also have already been procrastinating on doing these blog entries so it's either two kill birds with one stone or stand idly by as the routine is wrecked not even the second time around. 

Onwards - 

Today I'd like to talk a little bit about where ideas come from. I personally don't think there are any original ideas out in the world. What originality is, in my opinion, is a mix of sensory experiences and memories processed into novel ways expressed through the patterns your brain sees and inscribes as output. If only writing itself were so simple. Recognizing the patterns in completed works is one thing but creating the patterns is monumental work that I personally always toil over. 

The first season of True Detective was a masterpiece. Vince and I touched based on it as a reference point today. I mentioned how I thought it was a very simple plot, and he countered back that though the plot is symbol, it's thematically complex work. I agree. The show drips with allegory, powered by melancholy and mystery. The result is something ... unique. Fresh. Wonderful. We think and agree on.

The second season of True Detective is not as good. It came out only a year after the original. The series creator, Nic Pizzolatto started writing season 1 in 2010. He finished shooting in 2013. The show premiered in 2014. I got all that info from Wikipedia.

So, three years writing one season. Then he writes season 02 in one year and it's about a third as good as the original. Haven't seen the third one - working on rectifying that - but I'll bet it's better than that second season.

This is all my long and rambling way of making the following point: writing is a process of (re)discovery. We tend to have seeds of an idea, which we try to create, refine, whittle down, and resolve into something beautiful and sometimes intricate and meaningful and novel. It's a monumental and vain task as it is fucking hard as balls. 

Where do ideas come from? Sensory experiences both conscious and unconscious. Things you've experienced, read, watched, and consumed. The process of turning those ideas into good stories is the process of finding meaning by creating order through patterns. Order of events cascading together into patterns we recognize as core to life itself if it's good or tired and derivative if it's bad which is all subjective to begin with (but at least we have thousands of years of culture and genetic memory as primates as a starting reference point.) 

It takes time to write a good story. Time is sometimes the missing ingredient between bad and good, good and great, great and masterpiece. Or maybe a piece was doomed to be just what it was and what it ever will be. Guarantee you though that if you spent on time on it maybe you could've made it better. Discover a little more. Maybe a bit. Maybe a lot. 

About yourself. The world around you. The truth you seek and see. Everywhere and anywhere. Patterns of order. That's what the process is. At least, that's mine. 

Ray

Hello everybody! I'm trying to do something new in this space. Recognizing that the only way to become better as a writer is to write lots and lots, and one way to improve our online presence is by creating lots and lots of content, I've decided to try my hand at blogging more on the regular, either here or through Breakthrough.

Since Mythopoeia is about stories, I'll keep the content on this blog about stories and the craft therein. The stuff that goes on the other blog will be more about unlocking the secrets of teaching. Anyhow...

Some Other Guidelines

• I'm giving myself only half an hour per post. 
• Stream of consciousness style. 
• Write whatever I want to talk about within the framework of WRITING (at least here).
• Mix between advice, talking to myself, and a journal. A blog! 

Okay! Moving forward - today's topic is about Writing Routines & Habits.

So this is something I've been thinking about quite a bit as I've gotten older. I made it a goal in 2019 to, well, set tangible goals for my writing which resulted in a lot of completed works! It's a chicken and egg type of deal but basically over the the past two years I would say I've been a little more diligent about establishing a writing routine that has gone part and parcel with the increase in output! Let's hope it continues with these blogs...


My Routine

What I found works for me is doing the same thing over and over again with some variance. I'll usually wake up around 8 AM, make the bed, clean the kitchen and make coffee, and get to work by 9 AM. I work from then until around 1 pm, at which point I'll take a break, grab lunch, and work on other things in the afternoon.  I'll try to get about an hour's worth of exercise at the gym in between and I like to cook so I'll usually spend an hour or two in the kitchen everyday as well. 

In terms of page count, it really depends on what I'm working on. I like setting a page count of 5 pages per day if I'm working on a screenplay of some sort. If it's a comic script, Vince and I will try to bang out at least 10 pages. 

Everything above is hard and loose. That's a typical, platonic ideal type of day. I don't always get to 5 pages. I don't always get to work at 9 AM. I don't always stop at 1 pm. Sometimes I go earlier, many times I go later. But most days than not that's the routine.... or at least what I try to go back to if I'm resetting. 

Location, Location, Location

I'm fortunate enough to have a variety of places that I regularly go to work. First among them is the home office, where I have a two monitor setup. It's great for having a piece of reference media playing while I'm working on something like breaking the story or outlining, but sometimes the extra screen can be a distraction. 

I'll spell maybe one every five days at the home office at either the library or coffee shop. I like going to Jameson Brown in Pasadena or the Pasadena Public Library. Sometimes I'll venture further or someplace else. And if I'm really flagellating myself for lack of production, I'll head to Breakthrough where I have an office as well. That sometimes works, but more often than not I associate that office with fulfillment (shipping you folks comic books) or school stuff. 

In general I think I need to change it up every three months or so with a new location or a field trip or something. I got like the short term rotation, the medium term, and the long term. Sometimes I'll hop on the metro and go exploring just to change things up. 

People Watching

I love doing it. I think it's the heart and soul of every writer, and an excuse to go out! I can go entire weeks sometimes without going anywhere if I'm deeply invested in the home office. I forget to leave and go out but always appreciate it when I remember! 

What I don't like, though, is being in an environment where too many people are working on screenplays. It makes me self conscious and a bit existential if I'm honest. Living in LA, that can be pretty common or hard to avoid. That's why I generally like the East Side - less entertainment types as a whole. 

Turning Into Puddy 

There is a point in every day where I just can't write anymore. It's usually when my mind feels heavy and the words feel labored. At this point I know that whatever I churn out is just going to have to be rethought out the next day anyway, so I should just stop. Note that I said rethought rather than revision - one of the little tricks I employ is allowing myself to write bad if it means laying out the "bones" of a story. If the bones remain but the words change I would classify that as revision. If everything needs to go in favor of something new - structure and idea of scene included - I would say that's a rethought. You can revise. Rethinking for me is pointless because it means I'm tapped for the day. 

Strong Beginnings, Puttering Endings

One of my goals for 2020 is to work on how I end stories. I tend to revise the first 10-15 pages of something quite heavily, but truth be told I've never published something finished yet! Skies of Fire 8 will be a huge milestone in that regard. I think even for unproduced or internal stuff my endings tend to putter into oblivion. It's sort of the slog of getting through the middle acts mixed with the desperation at the end just to finish. 

To counteract that, I'm going to revisit some completed projects but only in the ending acts, focusing solely on making those climactic moments stronger. I'm also going to try to season less with cliffhangers - a lot of my work tends to leave readers desperately wanting for more, but almost to a fault! For new writing samples, I want them to feel a little more complete and less SUDDEN SHOCKING ENDING

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Hey, that wasn't so bad! Okay, will try again in two days! Hoping to make this a routine! Till next time! 

​- Ray 

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