Niche, or limitation?
Ello there, all! Today’s page is just a little Extra, in-between arc blocks, and is a little celebration of the fact that Elf Blood is just a little over 3 years old now! I’d also like to point out that I’m eating noodles, not Millie’s hairm which I have just noticed it might look like.
Anyways, I’ve been brainstorming some ideas for a script submission. Stop me if any of this sounds familiar:
Some people are born with magical ability. These people are identified in their infancy through monitoring systems in place with psychologists and social workers. These children are kidnapped and raised alongside each other in a government institution. There, they learn to control their powers, and are bound to serve the government upon graduation. They serve alongside the others that they have grown up with, and each team is a surrogate family unit.
Sounds a bit like a mash between Elf Blood and the X-Men, doesn’t it? It’s gotten me wondering about my creative process. Not in a negative way, I hasten to add; I love the way I approach world-building and character-writing and I wouldn’t change it for anything. But I’ve begun thinking about the kinds of stories I write. There are two themes present in all of my work thus far:
– The story focuses on people with exceptional skills and/or abilities (magical abilities in Elf Blood, vengeance in Lemon Candies, mind hacking in Memecasters)
– These people are part of an almost familial unit or tightly-bound group of friends (the Council/Renegades in Elf Blood, the three abused teenagers who take drugs together in Lemon Candies, the four uni mates in Memecasters)
These themes tend to generate specific kinds of stories and relationship dynamics; It’s unlikely that I’ll ever write a story following the Hero’s Epic Journey, nor am I liable to produce a story with much of an everyman character in the lead role. It’s easy to suppose that this is a limitation, but I don’t view it like that at all. It gives my stories direction and shape, and serves as a framework on which I can begin construction. Like with the new story idea; Yeah, the base idea is very similar to stuff I’ve done before, but rather than simply aping the style of Elf Blood or the X-Men, I can use the common concepts to provide a good, solid base to grow new ideas from. What effects would being kidnapped at a young age have on a person? How much true loyalty would they feel towards their unit? What happens when that loyalty is challenged? How do they deal with the power they have? Meditation, counselling, popping pills? How much do they enjoy their work, when they know they can never escape it?
Limitations don’t have to limit your story’s potential. Shift your view, make them tracks to follow and you can build something much more awesome than you would have done out of whole cloth!
M.
i recognize all the characters except that big one with the ugly mug right in the middle… lol
Congrats on 3yrs!!
What, you mean the devilishly handsome rogue? No idea who he is, either, but he looks like a good egg!
I always wonder though – if the person serves faithfully until graduation (but harbours a desire to fight the same group they work for), then defects – just how strongly would they fight their former masters? Think of Joseph in the Old Testament; think of Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance.
That might also be worth exploring.
I love that you’ve used the Pirates of Penzance as a comparison. I love having cultured readers 😀 Apparently there’s a G&S Society locally, really must go and see a show one day. Anyway, the concept you’re talking about would be best explored with Elf Blood; It would be interesting to find out exactly how intensely the Renegades have been fighting the Council up ’til now. They started out as having a real grudge, actively acting against the Council, but recently seem to be content merely to live their lives ungoverned by the Council’s Iron Hand. I can tell you that the beginning of the next story arc concerns this on the Council’s side, which in turn sets up another story arc later on (which you should start bracing yourself for now :P). The effect is roughly similar to that of a civil war, surely. Come to think of it, that’d be a perfect top on which to do some research!
Cheers 😀