The latest edition of the Steve Ogden Braincast is up online. In this episode, I continue talking about creating and writing characters, focusing on characters who evolved from a narrative need, specifically Moon Town TV news commentators Triple Bee and Savannah Bonn. Also, I chat briefly with my son Thomas about his thoughts on character as he wraps up pre-production on his own forthcoming webcomic Fetch the Bee. Music – Can’t Fool Me and The Trees Ask, by Steve Ogden; theme to Cosmic Osmo by Tim Larkin.
Go Thomas! *slaps head* Four elements!? Works for me. Brilliant breakdown of the Fantastic Four.
Hi there Steve, hi there Thomas, hi there Conrad & Kip (hey, I didn’t have time to catch your name right, xcuse me, no offense, English just isn’t my natural language!!).
Exposition traps. Yeah those ugly author monologues. Gah. Still had to resort to some in cuchulainn, but we too, try and keep them to a minimum.
“Fetch the Bee”, hey, can’t wait !!!
But in the meantime, some thoughts on your discussion about the four elements.
First, Group Patterns. duo, trio, quartet, … Most powerful (on a writer’s POV) is trio, cause the balance is always shifting. The Harry/Hermione/Ron trio is one of the best examples I can think of. Trios are fun to handle because they make very dynamic patterns (say, except for the dumb triplicate kind). But as you’re three boys, you already know that !!
Duos are difficult. Difficult to just keep away from the “succession of couple or brother/sister arguments” trap. Be they friends or foes. It’s Disney’s most used (and most boring if you ask me) pattern. Good cop bad cop, good lion bad lion, or funny guy + serious guy, etc… Some of my favorite duos can be found in adult literature, say John Irving’s Garp/Jenny in World according to Garp, and King’s Ralph/Lois in Insomnia.
As for quartets, the four hobbits in LOTR is of the most subtle kind. You never get to mix them up, yet they are so close. This, in my op, is absolute awesomeness in terms of quartet.
Now, the 4 elements !
What about : the four Hogwart’s schools, in my world, Gryffindor is Fire, Slitherin is Water, Ravenclaw is air, & Hufflepuff is… earth. Works well, huh ?
and the most memorable “small + annoying = popular” cartoon character, to me, is => Disney’s Stitch !!
Cheers, guys.
Awesome comments, guys! Thomas has an answer:
“Thanks a lot! And I’m hoping to put Fetch the Bee up by this Thursday when I go back to school.”
BTW, sneak preview only for blog visitors -
http://ogden5.com/fetch/
Good stuff – loved Thomas’ comments! Really looking forward to Fetch! The promo looks cool. I cracked up at the “small and annoying” and “maternal” comments. Great job!
Geez – I wish I was that smart when I was Thomas’ age.
Revision: Geez – I wish I was that smart.
Thanks, Tom.
Peter, don’t sell yourself short, Mr. ChemEng / CompuSci genius! But I know. He does think about things in a much deeper way than I did at his age. I’d like to think talking to his old man about story (endlessly from his point of view, I’m sure) has something to do with it, but when he started talking about characters “in an ensemble setting” I started cracking up and just let him talk. I’m glad you guys found it entertaining because I really enjoyed hearing what he thought. I’m sure we’ll do it again when Fetch gets going.
Thanks for the notes, guys.