Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Today, I’d like to share with you some wisdoms about storytelling that I found in an old notebook on my bookshelf. I’m pretty sure I wrote most of them down whilst playing through Kingdom Hearts, although a couple are potentially from elsewhere.
Do with these wisdoms what you will!
Storytelling wisdoms found in my old notebook
(possibly inspired by Kingdom Hearts)
- Things with wings that don’t traditionally have wings are awesome!
- Insightful, strong, and silent guys are hot.
- Permanent reminders of childhood memories and friendships are sweet.
- Best friends who turn evil for good reasons are tragically appealing — but only if the hero believes they can be redeemed.
- Evil best friends who appear out of nowhere, taunt you, and then disappear, rock.
- It’s really annoying when bad guys withhold vital information.
- Obscenely over-powered fathers are awesome, especially when protecting their children.
- It’s extremely tragic when someone with ultimate power loses their power.
- Tanning works better if you aren’t fully dressed.
That last one was written in red ink, while the rest were written in blue ink, so I think I might have tacked it on as a more general life wisdom. Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed the wisdoms!
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Unrelated media of the day:
Kind of a fun little musical compilation. Guy sings Katy Perry’s Dark Horse song in 20 different musical styles.
Michelle Proulx - Author 
I fully agree with the wings statement. Though a winged T-Rex might be a bit too frightening.
Oh gosh, can you imagine? Although if it had, say, dragon wings, it would actually be quite similar to a dragon, minus the fire breathing. So I would actually prefer a winged T-Rex to a dragon, in that case.
I don’t know. I think they’d be equally scary. I can see a T-Rex landing on prey with crushing force while dragons of that size tend to be more into strafing with fire. You never see dragons simply land on an unsuspecting knight. Always near with a roar. Maybe they’re more honorable than a T-Rex?
Well, I figure they want to avoid landing straight on top of the knight, because that would give the knight a chance to stab their soft underbelly. Except dragons have scales, so actually that would be a really excellent strategy. Why don’t more dragons do that???
They’re divas. It’s all for attention and to show off their fire breath. Just look at how arrogant Smaug was.
Oooh, loook at me, I’m a great scaly dragon and I will gobble you up! Look at me (twirl, fancy flying, twirl)!
That would have made ‘The Hobbit’ a lot more interesting.
I know, right?? (ignore the rumbling sound, it’s just poor Tolkien spinning in his grave)
I’m pretty sure the current trilogy and the elves showing up to Helms Deep made him an undead top already.
Yeah… I wish they’d done one Hobbit movie, then follow it up with Silmarillion instead. I still think it’s the best of the series; the opening pages alone (Iluvatar’s song) should be enough to cement JRR’s fame!
I agree. Though I think I would have been good with two Hobbit movies. The adventure and then the war. Just to make sure everything gets in there. Right now it seems stretched just a bit too far.
Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like these nuggets of wisdom have been abused and overused by authors these days to the point where almost every book has them. 😦
In some books, definitely yes. But you know, if it’s done right, I think it works. It’s just a matter of, you know, being done right 😀
Great list! I especially relate to stuff on the complexity of “best-friend”ships.
I find best friend relationships in books/movies/games so compelling, because there’s such an opportunity for dramatic tension. What cuts deeper than the person you trust most in the world betraying you? What warms the heart more than your best friend doing something wonderful for you, or sacrificing themselves for you?
I also like how a lot of best-friendships revolve around “opposites attract.” So, there’s these two incomplete people who rely on each other, and then have to break apart to become more “whole” and then, hopefully, can find their way back to each other.
It’s also a very pure kind of love, because it’s not based on lust or possession in any way — it’s just two people coming together because they like each other as human beings.
I was going to confirm the truth of #2 by self-reference but was concerned this comment would, by breaking the silence, reduce my hotness.
To counterbalance this risk, I am therefore typing it while psychoanalysing an elephant I am holding above my head.
Okay, first let me inform you that you just won the award for best comment ever.
You’re correct in thinking that breaking the silence does reduce your hotness. Ideally, you want to limit your speech to either one word responses to direct questions, or no words at all. You’re allowed to break this rule in the midst of a heated battle, or when making a snarky remark.
The elephant psychoanalysis is a nice touch! My only concern is that your ability to perform a psychological analysis of an elephant indicates that you can either read the elephant’s mind, or that you are actually an elephant yourself. The third option is that you are a were-elephant, which bodes quite well for your hotness, as then you can be an “alpha”, as in the leader of the elephant herd. If you’re looking for inspiration on alpha elephant behavior, I suggest you refer to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrQQZuLru9s
I respond to your comment with a demonstration of how irredeemably unpleasant I am, before returning in two posts time as the protagonist of the post with tusk-related back story that reveals I was not unpleasant at all but merely demonstrating my inner beauty through the medium of leather jacket wearing.
Roll in on a black motorcycle while not wearing a helmet, and your plan is solid. You should also consider growing out your hair and acquiring a traumatic childhood.
Excellent tips, esp #9. Words to live by.
I’m thinking of engraving them on my tombstone. But I worry people might think me odd. Especially because of the fact that I apparently already own a tombstone.
Why worry about it? You’ll be dead by the time anyone gets to see it. In the meantime, you just hang it somewhere in your room, and say you took up sculpting, and that was your first attempt at chiseling something (“what tombstone? That old thing? Don’t be silly – that’s no tombstone” – that kinda thing). Besides, it ties in nicely with your photo of the Corinthian column – no one will suspect a thing! 😀
LOL. I love your tips, Michelle! I’d like to append the last one with the following: and you wear sunscreen. You can get a tan with sunscreen or you can get cancer without it. 🙂
Very true!!!
1.Things with wings that don’t traditionally have wings are awesome!
My best story is the one about the flying sack of flour that poured white nothingness over Shinbone City. The people ran outside, mouths open, thinking it was confectioner’s sugar. Boy were they surprised!
2.Insightful, strong, and silent guys are hot.
What about blockheaded, out-of-shape, blabbermouth guys? When, lord, when is it going to be my turn for hotness???
9.Tanning works better if you aren’t fully dressed.
My co-workers complain when I show up at the office in a thong. Plus they don’t have tanning beds here. Come to think of it, this place sucks!
Interesting; and yes, I think the context for many of these is quite specific. But I can see some general applications in which they would prove helpful. For instance, everyone knows that a villain has to monologue! If they withhold info, then they’re not evil, right? Just misunderstood and by the time everything IS revealed, their true intentions will be made clear.
Oh, absolutely. I hate those wishy washy stories where villains are all mysterious and the hero actually has to figure out what their evil plan is, rather than just be told straight to their face. Heroes don’t have time to figure things out — it cuts away from their muscular brooding time.
It also is the deciding factor for a good story, isn’t it? If the evil plan is actually rational (at least from a villains standpoint), you got yourself a good story. If however, it makes no sense and is totally contrived, you’ve got a crap story!