More on Writing from fan faves...

I'm beginning to think everyone remotely interested in Joss Whedon that is also on lj has seen The Avengers now, but me.

Anyhow...speaking of The Avengers and Whedon - here's a nifty interview I found of Stan Lee (the original creator of The Avengers) interviewing Jane Espenson (with a perky and somewhat annoying assistant).

Watch on YouTube

What interested me most about this interview was two things:

1. Stan Lee states that people always ask who he writes for, and he says that he writes for himself. Espenson wholeheartedly agrees. She writes things she wants to see and read.
And it's what all successful novelists have stated.

[If you want to write a story that will appeal to others...make sure it's one that appeals to you first, that you want to tell, want to read, that it is your fantasy, your adventure, something you can't find anywhere else, that you have to get out of your own head - and you are writing it because you can't find it out there. Otherwise the writing feels empty and lacks soul.]

2. Villains. Very important to create a great villain.

Stan Lee: If you don't have a good villain...you have a hero wandering around not knowing what to do.

Jane: My favorite villain was Spike, because we turned him into a hero. He was this evil villian, horrible, a big bad, and we over time turned him into a great hero, who sacrificed himself to save the world and save others.

Lee: That's amazing. Because it's new. People don't tend to do that.

(no subject)

You ever wonder what it is about a piece of writing, a story, a blog, a tv show or a film that grabs you and sucks you in? Why one piece of writing does, and one just doesn't?
Or why one piece of music sticks in your head (not in a earworm sort of way but in the sort of way that you have to listen to it over and over and over) and another just...doesn't?

Is it rightly told - like UKL states...or something more primal, less easy to explain?

I've noticed some blog posts that I do get lots of comments and are linked to...while others seem to be ignored entirely...or get slammed. I can't figure out why exactly...there's no clear pattern. Oh sure I could say the one's that are about Buffy, Spike or Whedon get a lot of comments - because, hello, fandom. But that's not always true either. Nor is it dependent on the writing.

And in my own reading...I don't know why one post that I read makes me laugh, pulls at me, while another...I scroll on by barely seeing it. And I don't know why one story feels like something is missing or lacking, while another is filled with power and captivates.

The worst part about finishing a book you love or a tv series you adored or a film that captivated you...is that it is over. You can't ever experience that feeling again. There's this weird sense of loss. You want that feeling back. Oh sure you can re-read the book or re-watch the show or film, but somehow it's gone, when you see it again and again and again...it's not the same. And there's this odd feeling of yearning...longing...wanting more...like eating a sumptuous desert or a beautiful day by the beach or in the woods.
It's gone. Fading fading...quickly into blurred memory.