At the end of Annie Hall, Woody Allen's character writes a play that recreates his breakup with Annie. But in the fictional version, they stay together and the romance continues. Woody is apologetic to the movie's audience and says “What can I say; it was my first play.”
John Lennon changed the lyrics of a song called “I'm Losing You” to “(I feel like) I'm Losing You” because he feared on some level that it could potentially cost him his relationship. Or he thought it was a possibility at least.
Ever since I heard a couple writers say that the things they write can sometimes transform their own lives I've thought I should write something will all the energy I can muster where the character gets everything I want, and finds great happiness and fulfillment in every area of life that matters to me.
But it would be so embarrassing to post. And at least so far, it seems it's even too embarrassing to write and put in a drawer in the basement.
At least I think that's what's stopped me. Why else would I not do it, with such potential magic at my fingertips?
Gotta be embarrassment.
For another thing, it makes for pretty boring fiction to have characters win and being happy and fulfilled all the time. What kind of story would that be??
The reverse comes to mind; a creator could put all their darkest thoughts and horrible impulses into their fiction, and somehow purge them or do something useful with the negative stuff that's in all our minds to some degree.
Vince Giligan of Breaking Bad comes to mind - such a mild mannered, nice guy from what I can tell, but a lot of the bleakest, darkest stuff in Breaking Bad was written by him.
And Stephen King says he writes all his scary thoughts in books, and never, ever has nightmares. He gives 'em to other people, and they love him for it!
Do your wishes come true in your comics? Your nightmares? A little bit of both? Neither?
A little flight of fancy for this Thursday.
Have a good one!
-Banes
Hopes n Fears
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 23, 2018
4 likes!
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kawaiidaigakusei at 9:11PM, Aug. 23, 2018
Oh wow, such a topic to think about. It depends on which reality you want to spend the majority of your time creating. In my personal experience, writing a story about feelings and emotions you have bottled up inside take them out of your head and down into the page, the physical page can be destroyed, ripped up, shared, reread, or used as a reflective diary of yoir innermost thoughts. The most important thing is that it is no longer solely in your head taking up room for new experiences and memories. I appreciate the Woody Allen and Annie Hall reference. I liked how she pronounced Van Gogh in that movie and she was a very educated woman.
PaulEberhardt at 12:01PM, Aug. 23, 2018
Back when I'd just about started my comic for real I'd sometimes use certain sorts of people who annoyed me in real life as the butt of the joke, making them suffer from Tiger's antics. I still have a slight tendency to do that on occasion, but I'm better at doing that on a more subtle level. The pen magic works in subtle ways, too. Maybe it's just because you notice certain things or events more once you drew them, but I've spotted something quite similar happening in real life more than once after I drew certain scenes. And one thing definitely works: drawing has always been the best thing to restore my harmony with myself and the world, no matter what I actually draw. - Dang, that last one sounded so soppy, I'll have to draw piles of comics to get it out of my mind. ;) ... Awesome article, by the way!
KimLuster at 7:49AM, Aug. 23, 2018
Nutha good one! I suppose I do a little of both! Sometimes I think I lean too far to the gloomy and dark! The biggest problems in life really seem impossible to fully defeat. Sometimes we just try to get in as many momentary victories as we can and to just know we put up a good fight. That's how I see reality - to pretend it's different is to be purposefully blind (but overall I love life... promise!). Anyway, I suppose I reflect that in my stuff. Even my 'happy endings' hold out the dark promise that it could all go away!! Despite that, I relish life and admire people that press on (and am proud of myself when I do). Sometimes we feel like Sisyphus, constantly pushing the boulder up the mountain, only to have it roll back down again, but as Albert Camus says, "The struggle itself is enough to fill a man's heart..." And this comment just went totally out there!!! Ah well, in a couple days it shall be beaches and margaritas!! Uh.... great article!! :D
usedbooks at 4:04AM, Aug. 23, 2018
I love stories that pull off a super happy ending in a believable way. I can't write it myself. I don't have that skill. (And it's only rewarding if things get really dark, there's uncertainty about how the ending will go, and it's managed without a Zeus ex machina.) I used to be hesitant to include the scariest, meanest things on my mind (mostly from news stories and history), but I tested the waters and release some reprehensible beings into my fictional world. At the same time, I love the idea of people being nice and kindness winning battles, so occasionally, I have a nice person who can win over a henchman or two with politeness and understanding. (Which is also because I am obsessed with empathy and humanity and like most characters to be multidimensional and human.)
bravo1102 at 2:27AM, Aug. 23, 2018
The negative goes into my fiction. I used to get severe criticism for writing wish fulfillment stories. I have lots of dark ideas and thoughts, many people do, but I would only ever express them in fiction and fancy. But I try to represent the darkness as problems that can be solved. Sure there are aliens and tentacle computers and blood sucking monsters, but they can be overcome.
Abt_Nihil at 1:41AM, Aug. 23, 2018
I tend to put my negative thoughts and feelings into my comics, because I'm not all that emotionally expressive in real life... so for me it's emotional/mental relief. I can't say I "get rid" of negative thoughts that way... that's not how negative thoughts work for me. But I can deal with them that way.
Gunwallace at 1:17AM, Aug. 23, 2018
The comic I'm currently doing has a fair chunk of wish fulfillment. Of course, it all goes horribly wrong at the end.