Hello everyone!
First things first, my
apologies for my uber-slackiness on this blog recently – real life,
unfortunately, decided to stick its' size 10s in and writing had to
be put to one side temporarily. I am still sans internet as I write
this (thank goodness for families' kindness in allowing me to upload
from their connection) and will be for another month. You have no
idea how much I'm missing gaming!
So, as this is an
episode that is a little gaming lite, I'm going to talk about a
question that was posed on Twitter last week, a question that has had
me thinking heavily for the last few days, and expand on the reply I
gave to the question and, hopefully, give you an insight into why I
enjoy writing and wish to do this a lot more over the coming years.
The question in, erm,
question (!), came from the lovely Kelly Goelz (@KasaiRotasu on
Twitter), one of the Community Representatives for Bioware, and was
as follows:
Any amateur #Swtor
fanfic writers out there? What are you using as your inspiration?
#writethethings
Well, as some of you
will know, I've written one short story on Star Wars: The Old
Republic - “Remnant” - and am currently working on something a
little larger following on from that, entitled (ooh, Title
Announcement!) “Silent Hunter” that will be released in 2012.
But more on that later...
So, I replied with the following:
So, I replied with the following:
Current Inspirations:
Leon The Professional. @DrewKarpyshyn novels and The Dark Knight.
Very high hopes.
Now that I read that
back to myself, it is far too simplistic. That is, of course, the
nature of Twitter – a wonderful idea enabling you to soundbite your
life using 140 characters or less, but very difficult to add more
meaning and background to a subject. So allow me to expand a little.
I've wanted to write
nearly all my life, indeed when I was 8 years old a lovely
schoolteacher, whose name I am ashamed to say has temporarily alluded
me, took me under her wing and transformed me from someone who's
writing looked as if a spider has gotten ink on their feet and walked
over the page into a young boy who was asked time and again to do
notices and such for the school because of his Calligraphy skills.
It is in no small measure that she changed my life and I am eternally
grateful to her. The thing that I remember most, however, is
something she said to my Mum and Dad at an End of Year Parents
Evening – that I would one day write a book and that I should
dedicate it to her. I've remembered that ever since - even if I
cannot remember her name!
Twenty five years later
and life has gotten in the way. Thankfully, I'm finally writing and
determined to fulfil at least part of her prophecy – a book, on a
shelf, with my name on the cover. Whether I'll make a living from
writing is, to be honest, secondary at best, but the thrill of seeing
my words printed will be a fantastic experience, I'm sure.
So, back to the
question in hand – my influences. They are, as with all of us, as
varied as they are numerous – from other writers, to movies, music,
and family.
If we're to start
anywhere, I guess I would first have to mention Star Wars. No other
movie or book has had more influence on me than that first, wonderful
movie that I watched awestruck as a child. My Mother recorded it on
videotape one Christmas for me, on an old top loading Ferguson Videostar that sounded like a jet plane preparing for takeoff when it
was started up and had a habit of eating tapes if you put them in the
machine even the slightest bit off line. But that cassette, for me,
was wonderful – I watched it over and over and over again - so
much, in fact, that the sound went halfway through the movie – just
as the Millennium Falcon was being pulled by tractor beam into the
Death Star, in case you were wondering – and only came back just as
the X-Wings began their attack during the Battle Of Yavin. It didn't
matter to me though – I knew every word anyway, could hear every
sound clearly in my mind – so I continued to watch it over and
over. I don't remember when I was first able to buy the movie,
although I'm sure it was years later, but I remember fondly that
little videotape. It started an obsession that has stayed with me
till this day.
Movies have had a
profound effect on me, if I'm honest, and there are many that I could
list as influences other than the aforementioned space opera. Most
recently, I would list The Dark Knight as a definite influence –
the writing on that movie is superb, both in plot and script, and the
acting from all the cast, not just the tour de force that was Heath
Ledger's tragic goodbye, but in particular Aaron Eckhart as Harvey
Dent was sensational. For my money, it was the Movie of 2010 and
criminally overlooked by the Academy (notwithstanding the posthumous
gong for Ledger, of course) – to my mind, no Director has been more
robbed of a Best Director Oscar since David Fincher for Fight Club.
Oh, and under
“influences”, let's just put David Fincher, shall we? Alien3,
Se7en, Fight Club, The Game. All wonderful movies, fantastically
acted, superbly scripted and visually stunning – although the first time I saw a David
Fincher at the cinema with my Dad and Stepmum, it was played so
darkly that we could hardly see anything and came out thinking that
it was an awful film! Thankfully, I gave it a second chance.
As I mentioned in my
Tweet, I'd also list Leon: The Professional, especially for “Silent
Hunter”. For those of you who have maybe not seen it, it's a tale
of a young girl (played by the future Queen of Naboo herself, Natalie
Portman) trained as an assassin by the titular Leon, wonderfully played by Jean Reno.
Directed by Luc Besson, it's a quite brilliant movie and very highly
recommended.
It has not just been
the silver screen that has had a bearing on me, though. If anything,
the written word has been even more influential than anything at the
local multiplex.
Ever since I was a very
young child I've had a very active imagination. I'd sit in class
dreaming of worlds and places and people until I heard my name being
shouted from the front of the class or felt a piece of chalk
whistling past my ear. Reading helped me expand that imagination,
the words on the pages filling my mind with conjured worlds to
populate and see thrive. I will never understand those who don't
read – for me reading is unbelievably important and I simply cannot
imagine living without some of my books on my shelf - and yes, even
in these times of E-readers and Kindle, nothing quite compares to the
printed word, in Hardcover, and sat on a bookshelf waiting
tantalisingly to be read over and again.
As a child, two books
stand out in my memory. First and foremost, the wonder that is “The
Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis – the
quintessential childrens novel and my first ever experience of a
fantasy story. I loved being transported into the world of Narnia –
a land full of mysterious creatures and fantastical places, from the
frontier of Spare Oom to the spiralled towers of Caer Paravel and
everything in between. It's strange, actually, that whilst I loved
the Chronicles of Narnia (and still do, of course), I didn't venture
any further into fantasy novels other than those and "The Hobbit" until
much later in life. In fact, it was World Of Warcraft that reignited
my love of fantasy, something I am grateful for.
The second book from my
childhood that I remember vividly – although until recently the
title had eluded me – was a book entitled “This Time Of Darkness”
by H. M. Hoover. The story was wonderful – a futuristic world
where resources are gone, and people are forced to live in a squalid,
crumbling tower block with no windows and, basically, no hope. It
was extremely dark stuff as a child, and stuck with me. It is,
sadly, out of print now and I am desperately trying to get hold of
one.
“This Time Of
Darkness” has become somewhat of a blueprint for the type of novels
I enjoy as a adult. I would list “Nineteen Eighty-Four” by
George Orwell as one of my favourite books of all time – a
beautiful constructed, but scarily 'on the money' vision of the
future which I return to time and time again.
As for Star Wars books
– absolutely an influence on me, especially as its the universe I
aspire to one day write about – I would list two authors: Timothy
Zahn for the wonderful “Thrawn Trilogy”, and the incomparable
Drew Karpyshyn. Zahn's "Heir To The Empire" - recently
re-released in a 20th Anniversary Edition - was the first Star Wars
book I read, and remains one of the most popular from the 'Expanded
Universe' and an excellent sequel to the movies we all know and love.
As far as my Star Wars
writing is concerned though, Drew Karpyshyn and Bioware have had most
impact - if for no other reason than they finally got me writing.
Karpyshyn's style of writing, the fast-paced, engaging way he brings
his stories and characters to life is something I completely aspire
to - if you have never read his work, I highly recommend the 'Darth
Bane' trilogy. His way of crafting his characters is wonderful. And
as my first short story was based on Star Wars: The Old Republic, I
would be remiss if I did not thank Bioware for actually bringing it
to life. I'm genuinely proud of "Remnant" and my plans for
"Silent Hunter" as well as my own work in progress (which I
will be discussing at the start of 2012), but without the kick of
doing "Remnant" I may well be still sat here
procrastinating endlessly and doing very little. So, thankyou
Bioware!
So there you have it, a
small insight into what makes my creative juices flow. Of course,
there are other influences - my wonderful wife Laura, the music I
listen to which is such a big part of my life. We are all the sum of
many parts, but I hope it gives you some idea.
As this is my last Blog
of the year, allow me to thank you all for taking the time to read my
little corner of Web this year, I hope you have found it at least
mildly entertaining. This year has been an important one for me I
feel, but 2012 has the potential to be infinitely more so - that is
my hope, at the very least. As always, you can keep up with my daily
blah blahs on Twitter @crazybladeuk and I always welcome questions
and comments here or there, and I promise to keep this more up to
date in the new year! Have a wonderful and successful 2012 everyone,
and I'll see you all in the New Year.
CB
