Story of a Small Publisher

Last Updated: 2-05-06

Have you ever heard the word “uninspired” used to describe a piece of writing? How about “unoriginal,” “formulaic,” “derivative,” or “tired”?

All of these words are meant to describe the feeling found in a story that evokes in its readers a heavy sense of “been there, done that.” And yet, at the same time, many readers and critics equate them with the idea of “bad writing” – an unfair assessment that misunderstands the process of crafting a story. After all, a story hardly need be original or ground-breaking to be considered good.

Writing, like all forms of art, begins with inspiration, and inspiration is dictated by a writer’s influences. Art does not exist in a vacuum; it evolves in stages over long periods of times and is dictated by the changing tastes of culture. The Renaissance was not the work of one man, but an entire movement of artists who were eager to bring back classical learning and break away from the scientific darkness of the middle ages. The novel was an evolution on the idea of an epic, and the many resulting genres (adventure, romance, historical fiction, and so forth) came from further innovations as the style became popular. Even the comic book can trace its origins back to a variety of sources, and a wide array of influential persons have helped it to evolve into the medium we know today.

This means, then, that no comic book story can be completely original because the medium itself is not original.

Every idea stands on the shoulders of some other source, and every story borrows some of its structure and conventions from its genre. Superman never would have come into existence without the philosophical undercurrents of the day – creators Joel Siegel and Jerry Schuster even wrote and illustrated a short story called “Reign of Superman” about a villainous character that resembled Nietzsche’s Ubermensch years before their comic book character came into existence. Batman was inspired by Zorro, an old Leonardo da Vinci drawing of a man flying with bat wings, and a silent film entitled The Bat. Wonder Woman drew from Greek mythology.

And once comics established themselves in the consciousness of the culture, they became an influence themselves, inspiring new genres in other forms of art and entertainment.

When a work is called “derivative,” “unoriginal,” or “uninspired,” the criticism is not of the idea or the story itself – it refers to the manner in which the story or idea is presented. When a story is told poorly, it behaves like a marionette puppet, occasionally fooling its audience into believing it’s alive, but generally revealing a human manipulator at the end of its strings. But when a story is told well, it takes on a magical life of its own, and readers find themselves enchanted and immersed in an imaginary world.

The relative value that a reader places on a story, then, is not based as much on the formula or the structure so much as it is based on the writer’s style. And while a writer must have skill to successfully tell a story, he or she must be able to do so with style to make the reader care.

“Style” is a word used to describe the manner in which something is presented. A writer who presents his or her ideas in drawn-out fashion might be said to have a “dry” style, while a writer who keeps thing brief might be called “concise.” A writer who makes heavy use of literary devices like metaphor, allegory or irony might be said to be “complex,” while a writer who tells it like it is might be described as “blunt.”

A writer’s style is shaped by three primary sources: environment, personality and influences. Environment and personality are part of a writer’s personal makeup, and while they can be affected by life events, relationships and decision-making, they are fairly static and tend to have a larger effect on the periods of a writer’s work than the individual pieces.

But writers have tremendous control over their influences, and the stories and readings that writers consume have a tendency to work their way into their style. Take, for example, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, which were so highly imaginative and unique that they went on to inspire the entire genre of fantasy storytelling. In the late 1960s and throughout the ‘70s, many fantasy writers borrowed ideas from Tolkien so readily that the style of The Lord of the Rings, with its heavy emphasis on good versus evil and its story of meager characters saving the world from impending doom, was inescapable.

But Tolkien’s ideas were hardly original. The structure of The Lord of the Rings borrows heavily from classical mythology, from the youth leaving on a quest with the help of an old advisor (as seen in Frodo and Gandalf) to the noble king reclaiming his kingdom and defeating the forces of evil (as seen in Aragorn) to the old advisor dying and returning in a powerful –and often supernatural!– form (following Gandalf the Grey’s battle with the Balrog). In fact, the astute reader will also notice that many of these same themes are present in other modern stories like Star Wars, The Matrix, Spider-Man, Superman, and The Lion King, just to name a few.

All storytelling has some roots in mythology, because myth is very much a part of our cultural consciousness, and it is integral to the art of storytelling. If you have read a book, seen a film, heard a story, or enjoyed a comic book, you have been influenced by myth, and your style will reflect it in some way if you choose to write a story of your own.

As hopeless as that might sound, the influence of mythology is not a bad thing for a writer. Myth, in fact, is an extremely imaginative form of storytelling that can be mined endlessly for new ideas. In ancient Greece, writers competed yearly in festivals to produce plays that used the ideas of old myths while presenting them in new and exciting ways. (The modern equivalent of this would be for a writer to offer a fresh take on an old story, like the origin of Superman or the first clash between Batman and The Joker.) Again, originality and uniqueness of story were not key to a writer’s success; it was all about having a distinctive style.

“So how,” you might be wondering, “can I develop a style of my own?”

Here are a few tips I have found helpful in developing mine:

1) Vary your influences. If you want to write Spider-Man and all you read is Spider-Man, you’re going to be very good at writing the same Spider-Man stories in the same styles you’ve been reading. Unfortunately, readers’ tastes evolve over time, and by the time you’re in a position to write for that audience, they’ll be ready for something new instead of the same old style and stories they’ve been reading for the last few years. Many long-running series have a sort of ebb and flow to them, and their peaks can often be traced to the infusion of fresh ideas from a new writer, while their trenches are often the result of that writer’s style growing stale.

So, expand your interests. Read comic books that aren’t about superheroes. Or, better yet, avoid comic books altogether, and focus your energies on something else entirely. Read murder mysteries, or brush up on Russian history, or immerse yourself in books advocating (or debunking!) conspiracy theories. Learn to love poetry. Start reading your local newspaper or National Geographic. Delve into mythology and examine the ideas of a culture other than the Greco-Romans, like the Aztecs, Zulus or Welsh. Broaden yourself. Stay away from what’s comfortable and develop tastes for subjects that you find interesting, but have never had the time to learn more about.

You might be surprised how much this will naturally improve your writing!

2) Avoid imitation. Too many would-be comic book writers and artists want to get into the industry because they want to show that they, too, can tell a story like Alan Moore or draw like Jim Lee. And when they get into the industry, those working around them quickly discover that they only know how to imitate – they have no ideas or style of their own. And that makes them boring.

Imitation might be the highest form of flattery, but it is also the surest sign of mediocrity. I once heard an editor say that, in looking at a script or a piece of artwork, if he can tell who the creator’s primary influence is, he will not hire them to work for his company. A writer who has a raw-but-real style will almost always find more success than a writer who offers an imitation of what’s currently acceptable.

3) Write from what you know. Use the words you hear and the people you encounter on a daily basis to help shape your characters and plots (though be careful to avoid turning your characters into embarrassing caricatures – writers get sued for that all the time!). Use the knowledge you’ve acquired to write stories that reflect your experience. Think back to experiences you’ve had and see how the characters you’re writing might deal differently with the situation.

If you come up against something with which you’re unfamiliar… research it and make yourself familiar! If a story would be best set in World War II, don’t guess about names, dates, and locations – take some time to find the correct ones and work them into your story. But at the same time, remember the rule of fiction – no matter what happened in reality, every event that occurs in your story must make sense. Don’t shoehorn in details just to give your work an air of plausibility – remember that your story is your world, ultimately, and that while it’s fun to create a bit of fiction that can fit into real world events or issues, it’s better to present a solid story.

4) Read your work out loud. It’s amazing how a seemingly well-written piece of dialogue can sound completely ridiculous when it’s uttered aloud. Comic book writing is all about characterization and drama, and every line that is thought, said or narrated in the context of the story needs to tell its reader something about the character. This is why writers like Frank Miller are so well regarded – they have an excellent ability to use words to give the reader details about a character that the art could never show.

I would advise that, unless you are writing a scene where formal language is required, it is best to write with the same meter and style that one might hear in everyday speech. Many comic book, television and screenplay writers seem to prefer to use overwrought dialogue where a scene or a character might need some emotional gravity, but it is rarely advisable to do so, because such dialogue often sounds phony to its audience. Remember, as Robert Frost said, that “sound is sense,” and use it to shape the reader’s internal impression of your characters.

5) Study your style. Figure out what works, and what doesn’t. Find new and better ways to say things. Join a writer’s circle and listen to what others say about your work. Ask a friend to read your work and tell you what he or she likes best and least about it. Periodically re-read work you finished months or years before and see where and how much your style has evolved. Take an old unfinished idea off your shelf and revise it with a fresh perspective. And, if you’re fortunate enough to get your writing published, absorb any reviews or criticism you can find and try to understand how others process your work.

The better you know your own work, the better you will be able to surpass it. Never lose sight of the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect piece of writing; the final draft is simply what a writer settles for when the deadline arrives.