The Origins of the Story
I had not intended to write a vampire book. This all started out with my hope of fleshing out the Ralph the Punk, Burning City, story that has been around in various forms since 1984. But in working out details for that story I developed a background concept that I was too excited about to leave as a backdrop. I felt it was strong enough to stand on its own. And, with that, I moved on to vampires. And all things dark and spooky.
Essentially, these creatures of the night, legendary embodiments of primal fear, have a purpose and a function. An alien function that answers for me why they exist, how they survive and why they are immortal. It is those original base fears that interest me and that is the reason for the title, The First Fear.
As I have been writing, the story has become influenced by two events in my life. One is personal and one is happening on the other side of the world. The personal side is all about dementia and it's effects on both the person with the disease and the people surrounding them. (And no, the vampires don't get dementia. Nor any other monster.) The other event is the fighting in the Middle East. Most pointedly, the battles between Lebanon and Israel that have wrenchingly engaged the civilian population on both sides.
The exciting thing about these influences is that they've taken the original idea of a basic action adventure story and given some depth to the characters. It has allowed me to move beyond thinking about just getting characters from point A to point B and into a place where I have check with the characters first before the plot moves ahead. As I write the script I will not only be creating text, but sketches and visual narratives/storyboards/rough page layouts to help me determine if the story is working as a comic book. And to see how much of the story I can tell visually and not just through dialog and narration.
After this there will be more drawings and less talking.
Essentially, these creatures of the night, legendary embodiments of primal fear, have a purpose and a function. An alien function that answers for me why they exist, how they survive and why they are immortal. It is those original base fears that interest me and that is the reason for the title, The First Fear.
As I have been writing, the story has become influenced by two events in my life. One is personal and one is happening on the other side of the world. The personal side is all about dementia and it's effects on both the person with the disease and the people surrounding them. (And no, the vampires don't get dementia. Nor any other monster.) The other event is the fighting in the Middle East. Most pointedly, the battles between Lebanon and Israel that have wrenchingly engaged the civilian population on both sides.
The exciting thing about these influences is that they've taken the original idea of a basic action adventure story and given some depth to the characters. It has allowed me to move beyond thinking about just getting characters from point A to point B and into a place where I have check with the characters first before the plot moves ahead. As I write the script I will not only be creating text, but sketches and visual narratives/storyboards/rough page layouts to help me determine if the story is working as a comic book. And to see how much of the story I can tell visually and not just through dialog and narration.
After this there will be more drawings and less talking.
Labels: Comic Books, First Fear, Writing
telepathically sent by Charlie at 1:10 AM
2 Comments:
That's an exciting concept! I've been working at a script for lycanthropes for a while. Well, not plural, singular. I want to explore the animalistic nature of man and werewolves seem to be a great bit of symbolism in that regard.
I really look forward to seeing how this all falls into place for you. I'm excited.
Thanks, Ray. Hopefully it will fall into place and not just fall. Thanks for the encouragement. Get your story done and we'll do a crossover.
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