People keep asking me: “what is your book about?” It’s a difficult question to answer on the spot. How do I sum up approximately 700 pages of drama and action-packed content into a nice, 10-second marketing pitch that makes people what to read my novel? Sometimes I think I’d do better to keep my mouth shut, to prevent my lame explanation from being the very reason why people don’t read it. So, to prevent future awkward situations, I’ve decided to post the high-level synopsis that will be published on the back cover of The Awakened.
Enjoy!
THE HISTORY
Over five thousand years ago, a renegade faction of angels abandoned the spiritual realm and began their inhabitation of earth. Worshiped as gods for their wisdom and power, they corrupted the realm of the physical and forever altered the course of history.
THE PROPHECY
Amidst the chaos of a dying world, a lone voice foretold the awakening of a warrior that would bring an end to this evil perpetrated against all of creation. But with the cataclysmic destruction of earth and rebirth of humanity, the prophecy went unfulfilled and eventually faded from the memory of our kind…until now!
THE AWAKENED
The physical dimension is fractured. What remain now are numerous fragmented worlds moving simultaneously through time, sharing a common history, connected only by a guarded portal. On a parallel earth, a child is rescued from prison and trained in the arts of war by a mystical order of clerics. When he returns to his home in search of his family, he becomes entangled in a brutal conspiracy to gain control of the Empire. Racing to unravel the secrecy of the enemy’s identity and motive, he is haunted by the memories of his past and drawn by the destiny that awaits him.
In his debut novel, JASON TESAR delves into the heart of an ancient legend, beginning an epic saga which journeys from earth’s mythological antediluvian past to its post-apocalyptic future, blending the genres of fantasy, sci-fi, and military/political suspense.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
My Approach to Storytelling
Have you ever sat through a two-hour movie, only to find out in the end that it was a waste of your time? Although you had your doubts in the first few minutes, you kept hoping that the story would turn, that the plot would develop into something more…satisfying perhaps? Or worse yet, have you ever invested days or even weeks into reading a book, only to be relieved when it’s over?
I have. Frequently. This recently got me thinking about what my expectations are toward stories—books or movies—in which I invest my time. When I think about some of my favorite stories, I realize that they tend to hit me on a few different levels. They grab my attention and feed my curiosity about the various layers of complexity that make up any human experience. I like stories where I get to experience something happening on a global scale, a national scale, and on a personal scale at the same time. After all, the life of any character has to exist within a framework or context of something larger. If it doesn’t, then it’s not plausible.
When I started writing my novel The Awakened, I set out to develop the story in layers so that I could apply the best of my creativity to each facet. If you think about it in terms of a hierarchy, I started out at the top. I sat down and put some thought into the larger story where my characters would eventually end up. Once I was satisfied with the results, I moved down a layer and worked on the immediate backdrop for the story (the geography, the cultures and their interactions, etc.), with each subsequent layer containing more detail than the previous. And when I actually got to the characters and their stories, I had a framework within which I was obligated to work. In this way, my characters were forced to react and adapt to circumstances that were mostly out of their control…just like we have to do in real life. I think this adds a realism that would be difficult to achieve if you start with the character and work your way up.
You can judge for yourself if the approach paid-off, but it was a fun process. The nerd inside me thoroughly enjoyed creating city layouts one day and choreographing fight scenes the next. And now that I’ve been through the creative process with my own story, I find myself more disappointed with bad stories, but much more excited and moved when I see it done well!
I have. Frequently. This recently got me thinking about what my expectations are toward stories—books or movies—in which I invest my time. When I think about some of my favorite stories, I realize that they tend to hit me on a few different levels. They grab my attention and feed my curiosity about the various layers of complexity that make up any human experience. I like stories where I get to experience something happening on a global scale, a national scale, and on a personal scale at the same time. After all, the life of any character has to exist within a framework or context of something larger. If it doesn’t, then it’s not plausible.
When I started writing my novel The Awakened, I set out to develop the story in layers so that I could apply the best of my creativity to each facet. If you think about it in terms of a hierarchy, I started out at the top. I sat down and put some thought into the larger story where my characters would eventually end up. Once I was satisfied with the results, I moved down a layer and worked on the immediate backdrop for the story (the geography, the cultures and their interactions, etc.), with each subsequent layer containing more detail than the previous. And when I actually got to the characters and their stories, I had a framework within which I was obligated to work. In this way, my characters were forced to react and adapt to circumstances that were mostly out of their control…just like we have to do in real life. I think this adds a realism that would be difficult to achieve if you start with the character and work your way up.
You can judge for yourself if the approach paid-off, but it was a fun process. The nerd inside me thoroughly enjoyed creating city layouts one day and choreographing fight scenes the next. And now that I’ve been through the creative process with my own story, I find myself more disappointed with bad stories, but much more excited and moved when I see it done well!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Conformity and Control Freaks
I recently approached a friend about proofreading the latest copy of my novel The Awakened. The purpose of this process is to catch mistakes and improve the story, and yet, as the feedback rolls in, what I find myself thinking about is the process of accepting criticism altogether. If you’re like me, you probably reject criticism from those that you don’t respect. Or at least we try to tell ourselves that the criticism—however accurate—is not going to be accepted just because of the source. And then we proceed with the struggle of ignoring the words that repeat themselves in our mind over and over in the following days. But what about the opposite end of the spectrum? How do you react to criticism from those whom you respect?
In manufacturing industries, statistical process control (SPC) is a method by which manufacturing processes are controlled to minimize variation and prevent the production of defective product. As objects are produced, certain characteristics are measured and the results are plotted on a chart in the same order as the objects where produced. The new data, and its position relative to previous data, determines whether the variation is normal (random) or not (non-random).
Of all the zillions of uses for this methodology, one of the most interesting is that it keeps the process engineer (stereotypically a control freak) from tweaking the process when he/she is not supposed to. Some amount of variation is normal, and if you react to every little data point, you will end up introducing more variation into the process, which may ultimately lead to a lower-quality product. The proper reaction is to look for—and react to—trends.
Perhaps this principle could be applied to other areas of my life, but specifically as an author, I find myself wanting to tweak the story. To conform. While I want my writing to be the best that it can possibly be, I am also aware that over-working something can ruin it. Instead, I’m challenging myself by asking the question: “Is this a trend, or just an isolated opinion?”
In manufacturing industries, statistical process control (SPC) is a method by which manufacturing processes are controlled to minimize variation and prevent the production of defective product. As objects are produced, certain characteristics are measured and the results are plotted on a chart in the same order as the objects where produced. The new data, and its position relative to previous data, determines whether the variation is normal (random) or not (non-random).
Of all the zillions of uses for this methodology, one of the most interesting is that it keeps the process engineer (stereotypically a control freak) from tweaking the process when he/she is not supposed to. Some amount of variation is normal, and if you react to every little data point, you will end up introducing more variation into the process, which may ultimately lead to a lower-quality product. The proper reaction is to look for—and react to—trends.
Perhaps this principle could be applied to other areas of my life, but specifically as an author, I find myself wanting to tweak the story. To conform. While I want my writing to be the best that it can possibly be, I am also aware that over-working something can ruin it. Instead, I’m challenging myself by asking the question: “Is this a trend, or just an isolated opinion?”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)