Chad Halcom
(Intentionally) Bad Children's Stories?4/25/2021 This image is a pair of sample illustrations from a children's story project I have in the works -- because I tell horrible children's stories, and I think there's an actual market for that. All around the world, eager children have asked dads to tell them stories at bedtime. It makes sense that most of those dads are not naturally gifted writers, and some of the stories might even fail to the point of hilarity. Why go to the trouble of making up a story, when you know you can't, or memorize one of the greats by Hans Christian Andersen or Aesop when you might mess up one detail and miss the landing? Simply learn one of mine, and read it out loud, with no previous expectations or fear of disappointment.
Think of them like fractured fairly tales -- mice on a ship who like to climb the poop deck because it contains the word 'poop,' or animals who overtake a moonshine distillery to make a down-home jug band. Usually the moral of the story is something irreverent, slapstick or nonsensical. Hey, could you do any worse?
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First, welcome to the new blog on my author website! This is a space where I'll post my progress on new books and thoughts on other creators' works, probably once or twice a month. For the inaugural post, Iet me share a recent epiphany about 'The Mandalorian.'
Lately I could not figure out why this series stands out for me among other offerings in the Star Wars oeuvre, and excites me more. Then it occurred to me -- is this the first case of first-person storytelling in the entire franchise? And is that what makes it so fresh? As you know, first-person point of view is the main character directly telling the story ('I' and 'me' instead of 'he' or 'she'). Maybe you think it's hard to identify the narrative voice on film -- especially if the protagonist doesn't offer monologues or voice-overs to assist the audience. But next time you watch, observe that Din Djarun ("Mando" by his real name) is in nearly every scene -- even when he isn't, other characters like Moff Gideon or Grogu are responding directly to his most recent actions. This is very much his story. Most of the Star Wars movies are told as epics -- the story is larger than any one character, and follows a long arc of good battling evil. There is of course a main character in every trilogy (Anakin, Luke, then Rey) but several plotlines never intersect with the protagonists. Anakin and General Grievous never meet. Neither do Luke and Finn. The action shifts seamlessly between separate planets and characters, in the style of an omniscient narrator. And after 40 years, that format can feel very ... let's say, familiar. First-person, meanwhile, is both more intimate and more confined storytelling. Nothing all that important can happen outside of the main character's hearing, unless it is recounted to him/her after the fact. I made my own foray into first-person fiction with You Are Thursday, the time-travel crime novel you can read here (yes this is going to be that kind of blog, with shameless plugs). As the reader we follow Nick Prentiss at every step, on his journey in time. Mandalorian does the same, in that we usually know only what Djarun knows about the child's origins or Gideon's plans for him. Key characters disappear for multiple episodes at a time, if Mando isn't visiting their world. We are immersed in the main character's own perspective, and it works. It helps us invest emotionally in his bond with the child and his growth as a bounty hunter. Even other leading-edge SW serials like Resistance and Forces of Destiny haven't pulled that off. Take a lesson, Disney! 'This is the way' to reinvent. Sorry. I had to say that. You're immersing in my own growth journey now, and it's pretty incomplete. AuthorThoughts and progress reports from speculative fiction author Chad Halcom Archives
February 2023
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