Mupdate

Mupdate = a portmanteau of “me” and “update.” Mupdates!

I spent most of my free time this month playing Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. My evenings and weekends were consumed by it. I put in 111 hours and finished it last weekend.
 
Well, I finished the story. I still have a world to explore and quests to fulfill. But I need to return to adulting. Alas! Bills suck.
 
I’ve been processing all week. It was SO GOOD. Not many stories make me think for an entire week!

I’ve had Final Fantasy VII themed desktop backgrounds on all of my computers since I was 12 years old. Usually featuring Red XIII (a red-furred talking wolf/lion creature). So this game, sappy as it sounds, means a lot to me.
 
That being said, since I’m on a mission to learn more about telling good stories, I’m processing a lot about how this story works, why it works (for me, specifically), and how it was built up from the original game in 1997. Also, how massive (in scope and scale) the original game was despite the limitations of the time.
 
Anyway. I’ll write more about that in my Preoccupations section. So be warned! Oh, and there aren’t any spoilers! Just… speculations!

Focus Time!

Apsu’s Children Novella

Still no progress on this. But I am starting to think about it! Especially as a result of my new revelations on storytelling.

vTubing

Small update here. I got the character’s wings to work! Here’s a little preview on Instagram:

Preoccupations

So as promised, my preoccupations this month will involve me pulling out storytelling wisdom as I synthesize my thoughts on FFVII: Rebirth.
 
After writing this, I was able to define my own approach to good storytelling. So, I mushed both of those together.
 
Some of the things I’m thinking of:

• Definition of a Good Story

• Silo Versus Collaborative Storytelling

• Premise

• Revision

 Definition of a Good Story
 
I’m coming to the conclusion that a good story can be achieved numerous ways. Often subjective ways. The elements of what makes a story satisfying are very different between individual people. But also between cultures—especially East and West. Where the West prefers clear-cut, the East accepts more ambiguity, even finding it more satisfying.
 
In my writing group, the Ubergroup, we think this is a result of what each culture values philosophically. The west is influenced by ancient Greek thinkers and Christianity, and the east is influenced by Confucian, Taoist (and more) philosophy, along with Buddhism and polytheism. West > individualism and conflict, East > collectivism and harmony. 
 
There are similarities though. And the definition I like the most (so far) is that: stories are about CHANGE.
 
The change occurs within the characters in a story, or in the reader after they finish a story. As a writer trying to come up with a good story, I try to think of the driving force as change.
 
This is often opposed to the common word “conflict.” I just replace “conflict” with “change,” and more options open for me. I feel more creative this way.
 
Another bit that I picked up recently (that I personally resonated with) is that: The basis of most human motivation is the desire to not die.
 
Safety, in essence. Oftentimes, safety means security.
 
Security for us humans is messy. We want security in our homes, our relationships, our financial and job situations – everything. Even those driven to dark thoughts fear they’ve lost all hope of attaining security in some form (love from others, kindness, etc.) and think death will give them security—in the form of an end.
 
So, my current definitions of storytelling:

• Stories are driven by change [moves plot]

• Humans strive for survival in the form of security [provides character motivations]

 With these two rules, I think I’ll be able to put some interesting outlines together!
 
Silo Versus Collaborative Storytelling
 
I learned early on that I don’t have answers for everything. And neither do most people. At 17 and 18, I was asking strangers what to do about mental illness in my family, and people in their 50s and 60s didn’t know what to tell me. They hadn’t experienced this thing that I had experienced as a teenager. And that was scary.
 
If the “adults” didn’t know what to do, how was I supposed to know?
 
So, it’s always been in me to seek outside advice. Because sometimes, if I asked the right person, they would understand and give me good advice. But those adults were few and far between. In order to find the ones with the good advice, I cast a wide net.
 
The same thing with my stories. I try not to write in a silo. I want feedback and other people to give me their opinions. It widens my perspective.
 
I often find stories written in silos to be… I dunno. Less enriching? Catcher in the Rye, Heart of Darkness, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Edgar Allen Poe, even Emily Dickenson’s poetry… I’ve found works like those to be so lonely. Masterpieces written by individuals trapped in their own minds.
 
Some of the most powerful storytelling I’ve experienced lately has come from video games. Games like The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption 2, even Arcane.
 
Animation used to do it well. Movies like the Lion King, Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Little Mermaid. But something happened and now animation storytelling feels stifled. My guess is that executives are getting involved and talking about business and investments, which is affecting the quality of the stories.
 
And while that happens in video games too, some exceptions escape—until they are clawed back for financial reasons.
 
Final Fantasy VII was one of them, in my opinion. It suffered some from the cash-grabbing business. All those cell phone games, for instance… But it’s always managed to hang in there. Maybe on the strength of its characters alone—each one with their own individual story.
 
Video game stories are informed by hundreds of people and multiple departments. It’s similar in film—The Lord of the Rings was a collaborative masterpiece, and the teams involved had magical experiences working on the film.
 
There’s a balance to be struck between an artistic and commercial standpoint, especially if you want to make money.
 
For me, I want to make art that people engage with. If that comes with the benefit of money, that would be perfect. But if not, I’m okay with that. Mostly, I want to have a good time making things and sharing them with people.
 
Premise
 
This is a hefty word. When I looked up the definition, it was… something. So I’ll share it here:
 
Definition of premise:

• a proposition antecedently supposed or proved as a basis of argument or inference.

  • Proposition - (1) Something offered for consideration or acceptance; the point to be discussed or maintained in argument usually stated in sentence form near the outset; (2) a theorem or problem to be demonstrated or performed
    

• specifically: either of the first two propositions of a syllogism from which the conclusion is drawn

  • Syllogism - (1) A deductive scheme of a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion (as in "every virtue is laudable; kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is laudable"); (2) a subtle, specious, or crafty argument; (3) deductive reasoning.

 Oof… complex!
 
I’ve been reading some old writing craft books by Lajos Egri (namely, The Art of Creative Writing and The Art of Dramatic Writing), who distills writing and playwriting down into easily understood bits.
 
Egri’s skill is his ability to break down the elements of drama and explain them well. Here is what Egri says about the word “premise:”
 
“Others… have different words for the same thing: theme, thesis, root idea, central idea, goal, aim, driving force, subject, purpose, plan, plot, basic emotion.
 
“For our own use we choose the word “premise” because it contains all the elements the other words try to express and because it is less subject to misinterpretation.”
 
I like this definition.
 
I’ve been told numerous times in my writing “what is the goal?” and I’ve been trying to state my goals. “This character needs to go here” or “I want to tell this story.”
 
Somehow I wasn’t getting it. No matter how I pushed words around, I kept getting that question. “What is the goal?”
 
By thinking of my stories using the word “premise” instead, I feel like I finally understand what people are talking about.
 
In Final Fantasy VII, the problem is that the characters have to save the planet from destruction. There are two ‘bad guys’ who are destroying it. Shinra is destroying it by turning the life stream, essentially the ‘blood’ of the planet, into electricity for the betterment of everyone’s lives. Sephiroth, the second bad guy, believes he’s erasing all suffering by “becoming one” with the planet and ruling it.
 
Sephiroth’s motivations are ambiguous, so there are lots of theories out there. But in Eastern media, a common “I’m trying to help you by destroying everything” ideal is the desire to become “one consciousness.” I interpret this as the ultimate goal of traditional Buddhism, to reach nirvana, an end to all suffering.
 
But what’s the “premise” of the game? Friendship conquers evil, maybe. But it isn’t clear.
 
Not having a clear premise doesn’t make something bad. FFVII focuses on the bonds between the characters. While the premise may be murky, I fell in love with the characters, and I cared about them enough to follow them to the end.  
 
That helps relieve some of the worry and pressure I’ve been feeling when it comes to writing a ‘good’ story. Lacking a strong premise doesn’t mean a story will fail. But being aware of how a premise can make a story stronger can definitely help.
 
I feel like understanding a premise and how to apply it to a story has helped me organize storytelling better in my mind. I’m excited to try it out in my writing, and to apply this new set of ideas to other stories!
 
Revision
 
I think of FFVII: Remake and Rebirth with revision in mind. It’s like, when you finish a novel, then put it away for a few years. You pull it out and read it again, and you see the good, but you also see the flaws. You’ve also probably improved in storytelling or writing since the last time you touched the book.
 
Being able to revise something like FFVII is a very cool experiment, I think. The original game that was released in 1997 was complete and full of good things.
 
25 years later, the creators have the opportunity to “revise” that game with better technology. The writers know more now what players wanted after many years of feedback.
 
The same thing happened with Hideaki Anno and his Evangelion franchise. And Hayao Miyazaki got to do this with Nausicaa.
 
Anno’s opportunity to revamp Evangelion resulted in new interpretations, with bigger budgets. Miyazaki’s opportunity to revisit Nausicaa as an animated film probably helped him grow exponentially as a filmmaker.
 
It’s been very interesting to see how these revisions have affected the stories, and how the artists and storytellers have grown and shifted. And studying them is an excellent way to identify how these storytellers worked.
 
More thoughts in this to come, probably. But I do love how revision has affected FFVII. Positively, in my opinion!

Faretheewell

Until next month, you can check out some of the old newsletters I've written, located here. I hope you find them useful!
 
See you end of April! My birthday month!