Hello to
everyone reading this!
Year 2015
is close to its end, and since I don't think I'll have much free time during
the holidays to work on my blog this is my last post before 2016. And this
post, well, it isn't an essay but a collection of all the posts published this
year. I thought it would be nice to look back at what I have been thinking
about in 2015 - now as well as many years later when dwelling in nostalgia. ;) So
I hope you don't mind my laziness.
Before I'm
going to list all the essays I have an important announcement: I'm extremely
busy lately, so I'm afraid I just can't continue uploading a new post every
week. This blog isn't just a diary but a collection of essays most of which
require research and thought, which are very time-consuming. For this reason I
decided to slow down a little and to upload only every second Thursday - twice
a month. So if there's anyone out there actually following this blog: I hope
you're not too disappointed.
The next
post will be uploaded on January 7th in 2016. Since we probably won't
"see" each other until then I'd like to take the opportunity and wish
you a happy new year! Have fun and merry holidays!
Sincerely
yours,
Feael Silmarien
Originality
is nothing more than a new combination of already known material. This is why I
believe that you can't be a good artist if you know nothing of the world. If
you're not curious and don't do any research. Maybe knowledge is even far more
valuable than actual talent: An artist can have all the talents in the world -
but if he knows only pink, plush and rabbits he'll never create anything more
original than pink plush rabbits. So the ability to have original ideas depends
on the knowledge of the artist.
Narration
in a broader sense is the description of a change of state. Narration in a
narrower sense is the description of a change of state through a narrator.
While movies, visual novels and so on can have a narrative without a narrator a
written story can't: If you want something narrated with words, you need a
narrator to produce these words. He is what makes a prose text what it is, and
so he's much more important than all the characters, the plot and everything
else, because he's the connection between the author and the reader - he's what
holds the whole narration together. So choose your narrator wisely: A messed up
narrator can mess up a per se great story while a good narrator can make a
boring plot highly entertaining.
How an
artist handles feedback depends very much on his attitude towards the artwork
in question, and even positive feedback can be depressing sometimes. Yet in any
case, since writing requires much time end effort, the author wants to be
"rewarded" with constant attention. However, the yearning for
feedback isn't only the yearning for recognition but also the wish to improve.
Characters
with many fangirls make an artwork more popular, so I think I should know how
to manipulate my female readers into nosebleeding and drooling over some of my
characters. Which isn't easy, because making a male character attractive to a
female audience isn't about mere looks.
There are a
lot of great artists, talented people who do amazing work but fail at getting
it out there for years. Seeing this is really sad, and I believe that in an
ideal world every creative person would have a personal PR agent. Yet in the
world we live in now shyness and modesty are very likely to become the death of
an artist's career.
There are
very talented as well as very untalented people out there. However, I believe
that the majority can learn to make great art. Art is an idea put into
action, and talent is the mastermind behind it. Skill acquired through practice
is the tool. Joy is the motivation. But remember: Talent needs to be developed.
The only
rule in art is that there are no rules. Blow the limits in your mind and be
creative! Following "rules" too strictly deprives an artwork of
"personality", and perfection is creepy, because it feels like it's
produced by a machine. Furthermore, when an artwork follows all the rules it
becomes predictable. And predictable is boring.
A creative
block is nothing else than procrastination. So in order to overcome it you have
to treat it as what it is:
Step 1: Go
to wherever you usually work.
Step 2: Get
started.
In
narratology we speak of a metalepsis when one narrative level enters another
one: During the second half of The Hunger Games a metalepsis turns us
into Capitol citizens. And ... Are the Hunger Games a metaphor for the real
world?
Let's Plays
are easy to make and yet more popular than videos that are supposed to be art
in a classical sense. However, making a truly interesting Let's Play isn't that
easy: This genre reminds me a bit of artistic improvisation, and I believe
that the state when the process of making art is one flow, the state of
"inspiration", is a state of improvisation. Good Let's Plays are, in
a way, a spontaneous acting performance.
Throughout
all of human history we see more idealizing artworks rather than those showing
reality, and so the question whether art should show ideals or reality is a
very old one. While realism may be a very effective tool for social change,
from an aesthetical point of view it's usually understood as something lacking
the process of creation. Moreover, idealism is more appealing to the masses
than realism.
Many great
novels have self-inserts in them, and they can be a clever, funny and highly
interesting tool, if handled properly. Yet what happens if a self-insert starts
developing a will of his own just like any other character? By analyzing my
self-insert's psyche I kind of analyze my own: Art is self-analysis and
self-inserts are meant to tell us something important about ourselves.
Here we
are, all the 12 essays are listed here. Which one did you like most? Which one
least? Do you have any comments on this blog in general? Please don't hesitate
to leave some criticism!
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