#visual mediums

[the960writers]

Lincoln Michel Dec 12, 2024

I’m using “TV” as a shorthand for any visual narrative art from feature length films to video games. A lot of fiction these days reads as if—as I saw Peter Raleigh put it the other day, and as I’ve discussed it before—the author is trying to describe a video playing in their mind. Often there is little or no interiority. Scenes play out in “real time” without summary. First-person POV stories describe things the character can’t see, but a distant camera could. There’s an overemphasis on characters’ outfits and facial expressions, including my personal pet peeve: the “reaction shot round-up” in which we get a description of every character’s reaction to something as if a camera was cutting between sitcom actors.

[...]

My theory is that we live in the age of visual narratives and that increasingly warps how we write. Film, TV, TikToks, and video games are culturally dominant. Most of us learn how stories work through visual mediums. This is how our brains have been taught to think about story. And so, this is how we write. I’m not suggesting there is any problem in being influenced by these artforms. I certainly am. The problem is that if you’re “thinking in TV” while writing prose, you abandon the advantages of prose without getting the advantages of TV.

[...]

When I talk with other creative writing professors, we all seem to agree that interiority is disappearing. Even in first-person POV stories, younger writers often skip describing their character’s hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, memories, or reactions. This trend is hardly limited to young writers though. I was speaking to an editor yesterday who agreed interiority has largely vanished from commercial fiction, and I think you increasingly notice its absence even in works shelved as “literary fiction.” When interiority does appear on the page, it is often brief and redundant with the dialogue and action. All of this is a great shame. Interiority is perhaps the prime example of an advantage prose as a medium holds over other artforms.

[clairethecutepup]

Weekly Update: 3/11-3/19

Paragraphs ahead for: comic work, fan work, comic advice, advertising plans, gaming...

Jeez, why can't I seem to remember that Saturdays are when I'm supposed to post these? Aw well, at least it's being posted on a weekly basis, ja? So then, let's get into it...

I'm wrapping up the sketching portion of Puppy Eyes and Doll Eyes' 7th page, and I've learned how to make lines less blurry: I need to alter the resolution before any potential drawing, and harden the lines for extra crispness. Hopefully, that fixes my little "fuzziness" problem...

Also, I've been thinking about blazing the entirety of Puppy Eyes and Doll Eyes in a future post. I mean, I'll be doing a post with all the pages together, for viewer convenience, anyway. You see, I figured it'd be the best way to show my comic-related works to the world, via making posts with 50-ish comic "pages" to view. I know, I said I wouldn't do "blaze" posts with fan-related work, but work samples are work samples, ja? Hopefully, I'll have better luck in gathering a following and building up potential franchises, if I use the visual medium of comics, rather than simply posting chapter images with the accompanying paragraphs of literature.

Of course, I'm not just using a comic-styled medium for reasons of "easier attention-grabbing" alone, I also enjoy the idea of utilizing visuals/drawings than simple text walls. Why do you think I decided to add chapter images to Getting Your Goat, back when I stuck to mostly literary forms of entertainment? Plus, I feel like my art style would help my works be seen as more iconic/recognizable, compared to just a familiar writing style and the like. If you're gonna get anywhere, people gotta recognize your works as YOUR works, ja? Can't just rely on my blonde, little wolf-hybrid mascot to always tell you you're viewing something of mine.

Speaking of comic work, I really suggest doing it digitally for convenience sake. After all, do it traditionally and you'll be having a rougher/longer time altering outlines, panels and whatever else that'll take you a few seconds digitally. Sure, I won't tell you to fix what's not broken, nor am I demanding you forsake traditional art; but I will give recommendations where recommendations are seen fit. Of course, I don't want to forego traditional art myself, but I think I'll save it for reference sheets and other things that don't involve a bit more... "complexity," I guess is the word?

In relation to the workings of Puppy Eyes and Doll Eyes, as well as the over all desire to make a fan comic series based on the "Assassin AU" of Ed Edd n Eddy, I admit a bit of nervousness toward people's potential reactions regarding Claire. No, I wanna include Claire and include her as is, so she's getting included and included as is: namely, animal-hybrids recently being made as the "perfect tool" for the organization's assassins.

Of course, there'd be hints the organization also plans to eventually make the dubbed "Werebeasts" independent enough, so it can MAKE its own and better brand of assassins, rather than spending the time/effort into abducting and grooming people as kids. At least, I think that's supposed to be the AU's backstory: they were taken by the spaceship, in the "Invasion of the Eds" episode, and "trained" into their assassin lifestyles?

However, you don't get anywhere in life when you're too scared to do anything, so I'll suck it up and see what happens. The important thing is, as long as Claire doesn't hog the spotlight nor be more Mary-Sue than character, it should be fine. Plus, I'm sure some of the EEnE fandom would appreciate the "Assassin AU" making a comeback, characters like Claire present or not.

In matters unrelated to creative workings, I've finally gotten Pizza Tower, and I love it! It's fun to take the slow, steady pacing of platforming while exploring the levels-- and then run like HECK, Sonic the Hedgehog style!! I don't think I'll go for all "P" ranks, nor even one, as I like my games to be fun. Instead, I'll go for the collectibles and find all the secrets!

Anyway, till later!

[stitchposts]

This is so obvious it's almost petty to talk about, but it keeps happening so I am increasingly faced with needing to decide to bring it up. Can everyone who advocates for not reposting art and for crediting artists start bringing that same energy to photographs of traditional art? Especially fiber arts and sewing related things, due to very prolific scraping accounts that repost things from elsewhere on the internet here to tumblr and a few years ago stopped crediting the artists at all. They never asked permission, but credit has just dried up entirely and it's galling to see.

I know non fiber artists don't really have the experience to see this, but just like visual arts, fiber artists develop pretty clear styles. So if a blog is posting elaborate pieces of infamously time consuming arts that cover a wide range of styles, once or twice a day, with no credits or discussion of themselves as an artist - that shit's stolen as fuck.

It feels like I'm going insane sometimes because thousands of people who otherwise yell all day about how artists need to be credited, just think that sewing related photographs pop into existence without needing to be linked to the person that made them.

[post-punk-revival]

Transspecies glow-up 2016–2024

[calware]

revisiting an old concept.... thinking about making the altselves look purposefully stylized in a "realistic" world to emphasize how inhuman they are. also proving that i can draw realistic faces

[ernestoesquer]

Pomegranates, 2024. Toned gelatin silver print.

[anxiousapplepie]

I had the urge to draw a comic, but ISAT wasn't sparking inspiration today Original characters, my beloved, thank you for practically writing yourselves when I need The Art Stimmies and a pallet cleanser from everything haunting my brain

[5-pp-man]

no you don't get it. i literally love stories where they dive into people's hearts/minds (literally or figuratively) sm it's my favourite type of storytelling.

[theartingace]

when I tell you I have been doodling Wolf359 nonstop and listening to hardly anything else..

[rumlead]

what good is a mouth and ears if you only stare? // complicit witness // curly bro is the talk in the room with us?

had the idea for a piece that parallels pre- and post- crash Curly.. ideologically? Or at least to be representative of his body after the crash reflecting his prior actions. Curly pre-crash doesn’t truly listen to concerns about Jim or even have a proper conversation with him, but rather watches things happen (low interference, signing off on his psych-evaluation). Post-crash Curly can’t talk, assumedly has limited/no hearing (mfw ship blow up in my face), and no eyelids— call him the witness the way he be witnessing. He’s doing as much as he would prior to the crash, but now he doesn’t have a choice. There is definitely a more profound way to word it, but you get the point. Probably.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

the x files is so funny because some days i'm literally jumping up and down over how perfectly executed the central dynamic is, and then other days i need to take a deep breath and repeat my grounding mantra of "your favorite characters being written inconsistently does NOT mean you should throw your laptop into the nearest river"

[bionicboxes]

I think a core internet experiences is- YES, people are allowed to not like or enjoy the thing *I* like, but they have to dislike it CORRECTLY.

If I watch a youtuber not read any dialogue and then complain about the story not making any sense I'm seething. If I see a youtuber read all the dialogue and then still be like 'this story is shit' I'm like 'lmao yeah fair.'

It's all about knowing that the person actually gave it a fair chance and aren't just going into it already disinterested

[gorgynei]

vaxleth + bells by the bengsons

[oranglesswrld]

i don't think ive seen this discussed but everytime i think about it it makes my brain explode anyway in securite kepler calls jacobi his good right hand and then in into the depths, where jacobi's trust in kepler starts to fracture post contact event is also when kepler loses his hand. the script even points out it's the right one. love tangible manifestations of character relationships

[post-punk-revival]

Whoahoh here she comes

[canisalbus]

I'm not much in the way of a lyricist. But there is definitely music in my mind that comes up when I see those two in love with each other and I want to read that "canon adjacent" short story someone wrote for more inspiration

Making music is complete wizardry to me, I'm fairly certain I'd be impressed by anything you created `v´