A day late, a dollar short... The story of my life. I posted a status update on FB stating how I would have something of epic proportions yesterday (posted 06/09/10 promised for 06/10/10). So, a day later here it is:
Previously I was struggling for an ending to this story. I always imagined it as a continuing series lasting years. I concluded that I don't have the time or skill to complete a monthly comic book and have it completed on a regular schedule. So that got me to thinking about just releasing one big graphic novel covering what would be 13+ standard comic book 'issues'. But the problem arose about what the conclusion would be. Where could I find an ending to a story that never had one?
I continued to fight myself about the story. What was going to be included in the myriad of ideas swirling in my mind? I put these thoughts away as I researched writing tips.
I cracked into Will Eisner's 2nd book in his 'Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist' series entitled 'Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative'. Where the first book in the series covered the history and values of comics/graphic novels, this one covers the actual processes and considerations for creating the story and telling it. Where the first was more of a 'why' this is more of a 'how'.
During this same time frame, I was researching normal writing processes and storytelling outlines. I'm not what I would consider a 'writer' so I looked to outside sources for tips and outlines. Any attempts to look into hero stories always uncovered some drivel by Joseph Campbell. His work contains some merit but not enough to warrant using it as the premise behind my work. I, apparently, didn't want to tell his 'hero story'. I knew the basics of what I was looking for. I knew the kind of story I wanted to tell. I recall bits and pieces from when our class studied it in high school (Mythology and Folklore class), but I could not find the right words to describe it.
A bit more digging uncovered exactly what I was looking for. There were these stories told (back in the day), recited orally and usually in a poetic nature. The more I read into them, the more they clicked with exactly what I wanted to write. As I increased in my research into them, the more I felt kind of ashamed. While the flow/pace, style, and plot points meshed exactly with what I wanted to create, the title of these tales were presumptuous.
They are the Epic Poems of mythological times. While they are mostly related to the Norse and Greek to our western culture, I discovered that many other cultures were telling the same type of Epics. I resist the urge to go into detail about these epics as I don't want to give too much away about the plot. But if the time between blog posts increases to too great of a distance, then I may have to let loose some details. I encourage you to look into the difference between a Heros Journey and an Epic Peom.
So there I had it. The story I wanted to tell. It wasn't going to be a tale about a hero after all. It was going to be an epic tale. And now that I have an outline to create from, it will be easier to determine exactly which of my story arcs to include. I will have an easier time of establishing a pace. And I know what needs to happen to end the story. I have the ending.
I have decided to create possibly this first graphic epic, but I doubt it. I would have to look into it. But in either case...
This will be Epic!
