Seth Paxton's Blog

I like the green bottles,

they stand out,

different.

They say that I don’t make decisions lightly

but that’s not true,

I drink out of green bottles 

because other people do.

In our Christmas drawing this year I got to buy a gift for my cousin-in-law Richard. I have only met Richard on a couple occasions and I did not know what he liked or much outside of his college and age: so I turned to the internet. I found what college he attended through Facebook and used Google to find a couple nearby restaurants for gift cards.

Sometimes in the Christmas drawing two people get to buy for each other without knowing it; as I got up to give Richard his present he also handed me mine. Richard was in the same situation as I was and had a similar solution - he found my address on Facebook and saw that a restaurant opened up nearby and got me a gift card there.

Through our various connections on the internet a more meaningful connection has been made, this is how the Internet is supposed to be used.

I want to create. I want to sleep. I want to watch. I want to absorb. I want to write. I want to draw. I want to program. I want to cook, I want to eat and I want to use the bathroom when I’m finished. I want to take too long in the shower. I want to cuddle my love for hours. I want to watch the sun set and the sun rise without going to sleep. I want to take a walk and not feel fat. I want to go to the gym and feel like someone who should be there. I want to give a talk to my class and I want people to listen when I talk. I want to listen when other people talk. I want to listen to the silence. I want to listen to every record that ever been recorded. I want to read. I want to stay up late. I want to sleep in. I want to miss my morning class and not feel bad about it. I want to remember to do the things I should be doing. I want to get good grades. I want to be promoted. I want someone to know what I want and help me to get it. I want to know what someone else wants and help them get it.

I want all of this and more but I can’t find the time, the energy, the motivation, the strength, the will, the compassion, the hunger or the thirst to keep going like this. Does any one else want like I want?

Every story has a place. Every picture has a time to be seen. Every creator has an idea that is perfect for a situation they may or may not ever see. Sometimes, not very often, but sometimes a creator has the idea that is perfect for the current situation. Let this be inspiration to you who would create. If you would breath life into a work of art for all to see then do so with all you have. Put a piece of your soul into everything you do and it will live long. Music, art, story, words, motion, interaction. When the choice is made then it is up to the creator to do the job. If it’s not done well then it will be forgotten, it it’s done too late then no one will know it ever was. Only if we can pull the strength together from the broken pieces of perception we cling to can we make something worth considering.

So fly on Hermes wings into the red dawn of tomorrow.

One aspect of storytelling that has really fallen out of practice lately is the idea of a flexible story. A flexible story is one that can have changes to it and still retain its impact. A character may be changed from male to female, the time and setting may be changed or the actual interpretation of a character. Theatre productions have to be flexible because different actors will be playing the characters multiple times. Directors use a flexible story to show different aspects of the same narrative. This hasn’t been much of a concern for the film, television, comic or video game industry because their stories don’t need to be flexible.

The advantages of a flexible story are obvious, but for media that can be reused hundreds of times without any loss in quality it doesn’t have to be a concern. The reason that new media should be using a flexible story isn’t just because it can be reinterpreted but because it connects with people more. When a character is flexible then he/she appeals to more people. When a setting is flexible then the setting can be anywhere and anytime but everyone will still be able to understand the story.

Lately I’ve been going through the reputable anime series to compare and contrast them. One series that does a great job of having a flexible story is Samurai 7. Set in a old-style future where there are still Samurai but also robots. This kind of setting can be confusing for someone not familiar with both feudal Japan and basic technology. Samurai 7 uses a flexible story so that anyone can connect with the main characters. The mission is simple: hire Samurai to protect the village from Cyborg bandits. The simplicity and flexibility of the story makes this anime more accessible to people who wouldn’t normally watch sci-fi or fantasy. This can be a great tool for a writer of any story (film, comic, video games) to reach out to the audience and connect with them on a deeper level.