More on Writing from fan faves...
May. 15th, 2012 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI'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).
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.
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).
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.
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Date: 2012-05-15 10:08 pm (UTC)And he did Cop Out, Armageddon and Color Of Night so he should know.
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Date: 2012-05-16 10:29 pm (UTC)The thing about villains is the only work if you make them layered. Too often we have bwahhahhah evil villains or stupid villains.
I loved the villain in Die Hard - I swear Alan Rickman made that movie work.
He was so much fun.
A good villain should be the hero if you flip the story. That's the best sort of villain.