Why passion drives better stories (as Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

AuthorAppleton on December 28, 2015

There is a vast difference between a storyteller who is passionate for the story they are telling, and a writer who is simply creating something of interest to them. The case seems to be aptly demonstrated with J.J. Abrams who is famous for rebooting film franchises. Not long ago he recreated Star Trek and recently his Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters with a thunderous response from critics and viewers. After watching the film myself I realized that the love of the story made a huge difference here.

Long-time Star Trek fans, almost as a whole, did not care for and some even despised Abrams’ remake. Vulcans lost their emotional control to a level not hereto seen, big bad villains ruled the screen, and action packed the screen time instead of relationships and good ol’ theoretical science. Transformers had met Star Trek. Many people speculated that the cause of this failure to catch the loyalty of long-time Trek fans was due to Abrams’ personal admittance that he was never a Trek fan himself. In addition to that it turned out that much of the cast had not even watched Star Trek, with the exception being Karl Urban who beautifully embodied the beloved Leonard McCoy also affectionately called “Bones.” Urban was himself a Trek fan and it showed in his part. The consequence was a movie that did not leave die hard Trek fans thrilled, instead it left them asking for a return to the old style of storytelling. The fans’ passion for the Star Trek universe has now successfully launched a rather impressive series called Renegades and other fan-funded projects are well on their way to success as well.

The point in all of this is that good storytelling requires a passion for the material.

As a long-time Star Wars fan Abrams’ approach to The Force Awakens has paid off. Rather than changing everything that we know and love about the Star Wars universe he has taken the look, feel, and the light and the dark again into familiar territory. While there was much good action throughout The Force Awakens, it never feels forced but rather melds with the drama each character is experiencing. Old characters are treated like old friends, with numerous hat-tipping to the original Star Wars trilogy. Quite unexpectedly (even though Disney officially declared the Expanded Universe of novels and video games irrelevant to this movie) there were several blatant steals from the EU… and they were good ones. They pulled a few choice elements that I was hoping to see carried into the new movies, though they did change it up a bit.

Writers need to be passionate for the stories they are creating, otherwise the effort leaves no lasting impact. Abrams demonstrated with this film that he truly is passionate for the Star Wars universe. What a difference it makes when a creative individual works at something because they love it!

Q: How do you see passion driving better storytelling?

How writing changes our world

AuthorAppleton on December 21, 2015

I once wrote a short story titled Trapped In Imagination and it was an exploration of how a writer creates a story. I have always been fascinated by the creative process. It is a gift and it has the power to effect change at the behest of the writer that crafts the words. A writer can quite literally change the world.

Recently I watched a fun Twilight Zone episode where a writer literally brings people into existence through his writing. The concept was fascinating to me and entirely entertaining to watch. In my own mind I have often thought what it would be like to actually bring to life the characters I write on paper or type into my computer.

This fascination is brought on by the deep impact that the writing process has on my mind. As the writer, I sink my mind deep in the stories I create. The characters become real to me, in my mind. The imagination of them is powerful. I can relate to their fears, their hopes, and aspirations. There are moments when I almost cry over the story I am writing. Other moments I feel almost giddy with happiness.

It is that utter abandoning of one’s self to the power of story that makes one realize its power. Through writing we can effect change. Not superficial change only, but real change. Consider the impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or the negative impact of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. What of the rise of western civilization through The King James Bible. The list goes on almost indefinitely.

Writing changes the world. It impacts hearts and minds for good or ill. It is our responsibility as writers to impact the world for good.

Q: How do you see writers impacting real change in the world?

Dealing with creative slumps

AuthorAppleton on December 14, 2015

We creatives are strange creatures. We are writers and artists who live off of the ideas that populate in our brains. Let me stop beating around the bush. Tonight I am admitting I am having one of those moments… one of those days… one of those weeks.

My creative well has run dry. I smile as I think about it because I have been here before. It feels frustrating. I want to write some fantastic blog posts that will give you some great information and, hopefully, entertain you. Yet I stare at the screen and foolishly smile at myself.

I think we all hit these times. If we are writers, artists, or some other type of creative. Our brain works overtime when other people seem to relax. When I am thinking hard on a story idea, world-building, or publishing and writing in general, my hands literally get cold. I am not sure if this is the reason, but it seems to me my forehead always feels warm even when my hands are cold, as if my brain is firing too fast and all the blood runs to my head instead.

So what am I to do, and what should you do when you reach these moments? I have been in a creative slump for the past few weeks. This year I ran on burnout for too long and I think it simply caught up with me.

So what will I do?

I will relax. I will watch TV shows and a good science fiction movie, pick up a good book, listen to music. In short, I will refill my creative reservoir.

As far as keeping up with my blogging, I cannot let that fall behind… so I have written a blog post about my lack of creativity. 🙂 And you know what? It was fun! Sometimes the path to victory in these slumps is to admit you don’t have it so that you can fill your mind afresh.

Don’t think of these moments as defeat. Think of them as a time to reset, and recognize that you will come out stronger. Great art is not forced. It must be allowed to slowly grow.

Q: What do you do in creative slumps?

Christmas specials: sale and giveaway

AuthorAppleton on December 12, 2015

I am running two promotions this week in honor of the Christmas holiday! One is for Neverqueen and one is for my very first novel Swords of the Six. Feel free to share these opportunities with your friends and family.

Kindle limited-time offer: now through Thursday Neverqueen is available on Kindle for only $0.99 Please note that the Kindle app is available on practically all digital reading devices.

Book giveaway: As my wife says, “What’s better than a sale? How about a giveaway?”  This Christmas I’m giving away a signed paperback copy of The Sword of The Dragon novel that started it all: Swords of the Six.
Entries will be accepted through Wednesday, December 16th at 11:59pm. We will then randomly select a winner and announce it the night of Thursday December 17th.
You can earn additional entries by sharing this contest on Twitter and Facebook!

Click here to view this promotion.

 

Short stories this Christmas!

AuthorAppleton on December 7, 2015

Christmas is my favorite time of year. When I was growing up I populated my wish list with books. One thing I dreamed of was writing books that other people would want to put on their Christmas lists. It was five years ago now (which is hard for me to believe) when I had signed a publishing contract with AMG Publishers and I had no books to sell until they released Swords of the Six. In the time between I bundled together my short stories into a new book titled By Sword By Right. It sold surprisingly well for a collection of short fiction, and ever since then I’ve always referred to it as my bathroom reader.

Originally this book was available in paperback as well as on Kindle, but the distributor I had placed it with charged an annual fee so I discontinued the print version. From time to time I still receive requests for By Sword By Right in paperback, and now Amazon’s platform has enabled me to re-release it in time for Christmas!

There is something magical about short stories. From my perspective they are more difficult to write. Everything for me turns into a long-form writing. Short stories usually sit in my “idea bucket” to be later transformed into novels. But with By Sword By Right I put my journey as a writer under the x-ray machine. I included stories that were some of my best writings, and some that were written prior to the launching of my writing career.

For Christmas this year if you are one of those readers who wants something to take into the bathroom or into a closet for a quick read, By Sword By Right has an assortment of fantasy, science fiction, fairy tales, biblical, and even allegory. This book demonstrates the diversity of my writing interests and will give you an idea of where all of my stories will take you. From dark underground worlds to surface utopias, and even into the interstellar divides.

There is no limit to where the imagination can take us. And we can explore the depths and heights of imagination through short stories in the moments that reading longer fiction prohibits.

Q: Do you enjoy short speculative fiction?