Today I re-read my Bleach Fanfiction "Nature of Power." It is an A.U. where Orihime became Rukia's substitute instead of Ichigo. Switching the focus from Orihime to Ichigo reorients the focus and details of every scene. Even though I was adapting a story that someone else had written, a lot of original content was necessary. This is particularly true during Uryu's introduction because Orihime is a friendly and empathetic girl who wants to join forces with him and is already spending time with him in the schools' Craft Club. Not to sound immodest but I impressed myself.
I think I did a good job bringing Orihime's Cloudcuckoolander humor into the narration and her interactions with others, such as Rukia. I also liked how I wrote the combat scenes, but most of all when Orihime fights the Menos Grade that appeared during the hunting duel that Uryu starts in cannon. Again, I don't mean to brag, but I started smiling at the combat tension, foreshadowing, and interweaving the canon element of Uryu's grandfather wanting Shinigami and Quincy to work together with my AU's idea that Orihime was building a superhero team. It was then that I had a realization.
I wasn't focusing on scenery. I wasn't writing about the landscape or the weather, and there was only a little about character expressions and appearances. It was all about emotion, action and motivation. The scenes were quick. I wasn't "painting the full picture" as has been my focus . I wrote this fanfiction long before that. At the time my thinking was "anyone whose going to read an anime AU fanfiction will already know what everything looks like" so there was no need. That led to the second realization.
If one is going to "paint the full picture" then one has to paint a picture. That is, they will create a static image. That's the definition of a picture. Yes, there are ways to suggest movement and action etc. within a literal picture but when using a "picture" as a metaphor for writing.....the analogy gets away with you.
I realized that it could lead to describing something "as it is". That is a motionless scene. It is a static image.
As I wrote this, I thought about manga. Specifically, Mahou Sensei Negima, because I happened to be re-reading the eighth omnibus today as well. It has this splash page that shows Ostia from a high distance. It is a two page spread and separate from the story's narrative. This is what I am talking about. You have the static image of Ostia ("New Ostia" technically) and then action of the narrative. They are separate so they don't interfere with each other. More generally, there's the practice of "establishment panels" that show the reader (or viewer) the setting so future panels can focus on characters and actions.
This sets the stage. It is a necessary step but an info dump of the environment can bog things down just like an info dump of magical mechanics. Scenic detail and action description; it will be a balancing act.. Like a video is composed of quickly moving pictures, I need to include both. As I write in the future, I will keep this in mind.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
I think I did a good job bringing Orihime's Cloudcuckoolander humor into the narration and her interactions with others, such as Rukia. I also liked how I wrote the combat scenes, but most of all when Orihime fights the Menos Grade that appeared during the hunting duel that Uryu starts in cannon. Again, I don't mean to brag, but I started smiling at the combat tension, foreshadowing, and interweaving the canon element of Uryu's grandfather wanting Shinigami and Quincy to work together with my AU's idea that Orihime was building a superhero team. It was then that I had a realization.
I wasn't focusing on scenery. I wasn't writing about the landscape or the weather, and there was only a little about character expressions and appearances. It was all about emotion, action and motivation. The scenes were quick. I wasn't "painting the full picture" as has been my focus . I wrote this fanfiction long before that. At the time my thinking was "anyone whose going to read an anime AU fanfiction will already know what everything looks like" so there was no need. That led to the second realization.
If one is going to "paint the full picture" then one has to paint a picture. That is, they will create a static image. That's the definition of a picture. Yes, there are ways to suggest movement and action etc. within a literal picture but when using a "picture" as a metaphor for writing.....the analogy gets away with you.
I realized that it could lead to describing something "as it is". That is a motionless scene. It is a static image.
As I wrote this, I thought about manga. Specifically, Mahou Sensei Negima, because I happened to be re-reading the eighth omnibus today as well. It has this splash page that shows Ostia from a high distance. It is a two page spread and separate from the story's narrative. This is what I am talking about. You have the static image of Ostia ("New Ostia" technically) and then action of the narrative. They are separate so they don't interfere with each other. More generally, there's the practice of "establishment panels" that show the reader (or viewer) the setting so future panels can focus on characters and actions.
This sets the stage. It is a necessary step but an info dump of the environment can bog things down just like an info dump of magical mechanics. Scenic detail and action description; it will be a balancing act.. Like a video is composed of quickly moving pictures, I need to include both. As I write in the future, I will keep this in mind.
Brian Wilkerson is a independent novelist, freelance book reviewer, and writing advice blogger. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).
His fantasy series, Journey to Chaos, is currently available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback.
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