Nathan Lauffer 
A few years ago, I wrote an article for this site called The Walking Dead is Not About Zombies. In it I show that the zombie apocalypse is just a backdrop. The thought experiments that explore who we are as humans is where the core value of the storytelling resides. Now, a few years later, … Read more
I am a strong believer in the power of stories. Because of that, I look up to storytellers. So much so, that I’m doing something very painful right now. I’m writing about something I no longer care about… True Blood.
Why am I doing this?
I’ve taken on the job of helping writers by showing them a fan’s perspective… particularly a fan who is not an active writer. I’m writing about True Blood because I believe that it’s the best example of how a promising series can go downhill.
“I don’t really like Fantasy or Science Fiction, but I think I’ll write stories in those genres anyway.”
-No one
This month I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo. It had been a while since I had written anything, and I felt like it would be a good opportunity to try.
Then life happened…a lot. And, long story short, the only way I’m going to make 50,000 words is if I change direction and write a graphic novel where I draw 50 pictures. Get it? Because a picture is worth a thousand words. Sorry, bad joke.
The good news is that I do have a story, and a mythology. I even have some characters. I’ve done some of the foot work. And, one of the exercises that accomplished this for me is that I pulled from my inner-fanboy.
“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.”
-Albert Einstein
When Albert Einstein imagined himself chasing a beam of light, he was able to conclude that the speed of time is relative to how fast one object is moving compared to another.
I’m not a physics guy, so hopefully I got that close to right.
When it comes to things like knowledge or wisdom, there are many ways to explore them. There’s science, philosophy, and religion. But what all of these approaches have in common is storytelling. And, more importantly, creative storytelling.
It’s about us. This is what I tell people every time I proselytize to the unconverted.
Consider me a missionary that goes out into the world and speaks the good news about good stories including The Walking Dead. When it comes to this particular conversion, I go to those who are “not into zombies”, “think zombies have been overdone”, and even those who “don’t really watch a lot of TV.”
The Walking Dead started as a graphic novel series, and is still going strong as that. If you prefer that medium, then I recommend it as much as I do the TV Series that came later. The two share a lot of things including characters, story lines, back stories.
This article is by Nathan Lauffer and Kevin Spencer.
We are all, to varying extents, seekers after truth. I’m certain we are hard wired for it. Humans are all philosophers, who vary only in the questions they ask.
Over the years, I’ve become fascinated with stories that operate in worlds whose mythology, or at least backstory, is not immediately rendered apparent to the reader/viewer. I like the way these stories progressively reveal these things as they go and give us a series of Uh-Huh moments.
Going back, I can recall shows from my childhood all the way up to the present that have done this. Dune made me wonder what was so special about the spice mélange and how it was made.
Science fiction and fantasy feed my mind and soul the way that pancakes feed my belly. And, I crave them just as much if not more.
When something in these genres comes about that especially moves me (or, I believe will move me), I live tweet on Mythic Scribes about it. I knew Once Upon a Time would be my spiritual version of cinnistack pancakes from IHOP when I first saw the commercials for it with “from the writers of Lost” appended to the end.
Once Upon a Time was a very risky move. Fantasy and Science Fiction is a genre that rarely makes it on prime time television. For every series that makes it, there are many that don’t. For this reason, it’s hard to get a series in those genres even green lit. Add to that the fact that it’s an adult series about fairy tale characters, and things get even more challenging.
Imaginative Realism is the art of painting or drawing what doesn’t exist. It’s the act of bringing visual life to fantasy, often based on the words of fantasy authors.
Several months ago I knew Marc Fishman to be an amazing artist and an insightful human being, and A Song of Ice and Fire was just a series of books that people kept pestering me to read. Then an HBO series (Game of Thrones) based on the books came along, and I decided to live tweet during it for Mythic Scribes. I read the first book, watched the series and was hooked.
Shortly thereafter I learned that Marc was illustrating a limited edition version of George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons.
