It's been a while since I updated this blog. I've hit a bit of a lull. Work has been taking all my time. I've been thinking though, where to go from here. There are two directions. I can keep going down the technical path. Try to enhance my facial expressions system. Or I can start revisiting my story. I really want to produce something creative. So I decided to head down the creative road. I'm working on a short film idea that has some potential. Once I have it well formed, I'll share it on here. I still like the direction the story I have outlined here is taking, but I'll take a break from it and explore a slightly different world.
My dad used to tell me write what you know. I never understood what that means. If I only write what I know, I'll write really boring stories. But I think I have modified his advice to something that makes more sense to me. Write the characters you know. The most important aspect of a story is the character. If you analyze any movie you like you'll come to the same conclusion as I did. Characters are what draws you into the story and keeps you glued to the screen or the pages. They are the ones who make you feel something. You relate to them, and you care what happens to them. The challenges and the "plot" is what brings out the personality of the character. They are the events which show what the character is made out of; their courage; their compassion; their fears; their love. And these aspects is what makes the viewer identify with your character.
As a writer the character, I believe, has to come from a personal place. In essence they are a part of you. If you don't write from what you know, the character you write will feel contrived and fake. But if you write from your own experiences, then they might, just might, be relatable. For this reason, I decided to write a character which I have personal experiences with. The world I'm thinking of is not a real world. It's a futuristic world, which I haven't seen done before. The character will leave the world she knows behind and be thrust into the other one with no way back. She will need to navigate this new world and rediscover the purpose she thought she lost.