Mother’s Day came and went. I thankfully got to fast that whole day so that when dinner time came, I feasted and walked out with a food baby in my belly. Yes folks, regardless of status, plot with your kid to feed their mom. Co-parenting is grossly underrated. As a father, even when divorced, yo gotta show your kids what treating people with kindness looks like, especially their mother. Even when you and the other person are not aligned relationally, show them that you can coexist on this planet and not be at war. I think humanity has gotten too comfortable with divorced parents or broken up couples being at each other’s throats and I’m not scared to call it out.
That being said, after a small breather from streaming like a crazy person and reading lots of Fist of the North Star, I’ve resumed writing chapter 7 of FireFrei. I’ve managed to write more pages as of last night. When I last approached it, I struggled with moving the chapter forward as I was indecisive about whether or pull the trigger and give the plot that “silence followed by a deafening roar” feel or to flesh out Izzy and Firebutt’s bonding time, open the blinders a bit on not only a bit of who she is as a little girl but also how, much like her dad, she has powers of sorts as well. In many ways, this chapter is one where I put more lifting onto some character development away from the usual rush and action.
Writing these stories isn’t just about action and a basic plot; it’s also been my journey in shaking my writing rust that sat too long and breathing life into it as well. In part, this is why I’ve enjoyed occasionally revisiting some of my college textbooks and reflecting on Hirohiko Araki’s Manga in Theory and Practice; it isn’t just his book detailing his philosophy regarding creating manga but also on fleshing out plot, character backgrounds. The biggest challenge for me has been going beyond the short story approach I used to always have when I was in my 20s. Let’s also include how I usually just write as I go, not aware of where the story might take me. Knowing that even Kentaro Miura, creator of Berserk, had a start and end point for his story (although at times fell into gardening approach ala George RR Martin) was more than enough motivation to occasionally rethink how I move forward in writing. In Marvel Comics, you have writers like Jonathan Hickman whom has a very “slow cook” approach to his storytelling. Whatever is happening now, be sure to remember it because it will serve a purpose later — at least that’s his method. In DC, Scott Snyder on task is bound to just take you for a ride and he’s very much cook-on-the-go but in a way that’s fluid like an endless current. I also find that Buronson, the writer of Fist of the North Star, seems to have a 3 act method happening in every chapter of his stories. There’s a premise, what happens along the chapter and either a solid cliffhanger or a definitive conclusion to the chapter before going into the next one.
That’s what truly makes me love writing and gets me back in the focus.