Status Update + Random thoughts on story writing

Hi all, it has been a while since i updated my journal, so i thought it's about time i changed it, that and i also want to get those who are still interested in my work/stuff up-to-date on what i have been doing in relation to my art.

Lately i stumbled upon a dozen or more articles and tutorials about writing stories, i did some extensive reading and learnt a lot of interesting things about how to write a story, who to form a character and how to avoid the pitfalls of new writers like myself, i always liked to tell stories but i didn't have the know-how, the fundamentals of writing that are a counterpart to the talent of writing, i don't claim i have them now after reading some tutorials and articles .. but at least i know what i need to learn now and where to start, that's kinda a big step here, becasue as much as i liked telling stories clearly i also liked drawing, so which media has both story-telling and drawing .. well you guessed it, Comics/Manga .. that's why i decided to focus more and more on that aspect and less on regular art from now on, i'm starting to work again on my Naruto OC story after i refined the story so many times and finally got to write the first full draft of the story along with character profiles for all the important characters, as well as a thought study of Naruto's timeline and lore in order to make the story fit as much as possible with everything in Naruto's world, now all that's left is to draw it and get it out there, then move on and start making my other stories (which i'm currently writing character profiles, drafts and collecting research info for), if i can keep this up expect a lot of interesting stuff coming up soon

And here are some random thoughts on the subject of writing stories i thought i'd share:-

Ahm, I think "epicness" as a way to attract viewers/readers is reaching the state of diminishing returns, i have been thinking about this a lot while trying to formulate my own stories, where do you go from "saving the world/universe stories" to make a story feel more epic and absorb the reader/viewer into the story making them want to invest time/attention into it, well .. the trend in Hollywood now is to keep repeating the process over and over, saving the world/universe again and again until people grew numb and it all seems so repetitive and dull, sure it's exciting to up the stakes, but where do you really go after saving the universe/all existence thing has been done a hundred times too many, how do you make as story feel epic after this.

I say by going the opposite way, not just by focusing hard on the intimate struggles of a single person or a small group of people that might seem insignificant in the larger scheme of things but they become epic and engrossing when the writer/artist do what's needed to make the reader/viewer invest all their being into those small struggles .. so much they feel that they are their own, so much that they leave an impact on their real lives and provoke them to think or act in a different way, that's where we can go in my opinion, the logic is, if you can't grow any bigger to thrill people and grab their attention (usually with massive large-than-life events) then go microscopic, there is a lot to see in a microscope as there is to see in a telescope (and i mean the analogy both literally and figuratively), the next step of "epicness" is to go micro, as in ... exploring characters motivations and driving forces in much greater detail, giving antagonists more facets to their personalities, much more depth and more reasons to their actions, making commentary and observations about certain life patterns or human behaviors that usually go unnoticed or unmentioned in epic stories about saving the world, so on so forth, whether the story is about a boy trying to save a stray dog from a bunch of high-school bullies without provoking them or a space ranger trying to keep peace on an inter-galactic trade route while taking care of his two young children who just lost their mother.

Stories epicness should be judged not by the size of whatever the hero is trying to save (i.e the universe) or how epic or large-scale his actions or the events in the story are, but by how much the reader/viewer feels like investing into the story and the characters, then even the most simple stories could become epics.

And i'm glad to see many writers and artists realizing this and moving away from the overly cliched "hero/s saves humanity/earth/universe" seeking epicness elsewhere while looking into other more interesting directions.

Hope those random thoughts were useful in some way, have fun.