Ask the Author: J.P. Bidula
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J.P. Bidula
Having the biggest set of Lego in the world and not having any instructions to tell me what to do with them.
J.P. Bidula
It usually hits me big time when I'm watching superhero movies or shows. Every time I step out of a theater after watching the big blockbuster superhero flicks (the good ones, anyway), I feel energized - like the world can finally take my genre seriously because the movies are so awesome and have that mass appeal. Also, the thought that Unlucky Seven or something else I write could one day be up on that screen makes me that much more driven.
J.P. Bidula
Do not ever, and I mean EVER, think that your work is beyond improvement. This may not seem like something helpful to say but I spent years of my life thinking that the serialized Unlucky Seven was God's gift to readers. My ego told me that any flaws found were flaws on the part of the reader and not my writing. I thought my story was bulletproof until I had an epiphany that it completely sucked and needed to be torn down.
On the same note, don't be afraid of rebuilding. Look at your writing as if it were a pile of Lego. You build one thing then smash it down and build another - similar - thing; usually an improved version of the original thing. You keep doing this until you get the sleekest, coolest version of the thing. Parts may be discarded and parts may be added as necessary. Sure, it may be a bit more actual work than putting a couple of plastic bricks together but your writing - your project - is that Lego set and you can use it to build whatever you want.
Don't get discouraged by deconstruction. Instead, think of all the possibilities you can explore once certain parts are out of your way!
On the same note, don't be afraid of rebuilding. Look at your writing as if it were a pile of Lego. You build one thing then smash it down and build another - similar - thing; usually an improved version of the original thing. You keep doing this until you get the sleekest, coolest version of the thing. Parts may be discarded and parts may be added as necessary. Sure, it may be a bit more actual work than putting a couple of plastic bricks together but your writing - your project - is that Lego set and you can use it to build whatever you want.
Don't get discouraged by deconstruction. Instead, think of all the possibilities you can explore once certain parts are out of your way!
J.P. Bidula
Massive amounts of video games. Completely zoning out and fragging a bunch of bandits on Pandora or rocking my way through a Nephelem Rift or even stamping passports for Arstotzka. I'm an escapist and I've always been. When I play video games, I don't have to be myself for that period of time. Stepping away from life usually helps to ease the tension, freeing the mind to think of other things including (but not always) the next path to take.
J.P. Bidula
More than a decade ago, when I was in art school, I thought I would challenge myself by going to my friends and asking them the all-important question: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?
The answers would determine the artwork I would create. I polled more people for this than I ever wound up drawing. At one point, I came up with Zoey and Chaucer (original ideas, not based off of real people like most of the cast) as drawn characters and started to come up with a backstory for them. I quickly decided that they would be villains for the group of people I had drawn. A story started to form.
The cast was pared down to seven, the title was set, and I created the logo. On most original artwork, it appeared as a very large badge kinda like the X on the uniforms of most of the X-Men. Eventually, all the drawing and contemplating lead to writing a serial about it on livejournal (back when that was the hip place to be). I would post a chapter a week at first, then lapse into a chapter a month or so, for a dedicated audience of five or so. It went on for years until I hit something like the 71st chapter, in the middle of a failing time-travel based storyline, and realized I had lost my way. Literally. LOST was my way. I had set up so much in the background and had so little action. I was all sizzle and no steak. I was a kid who just kept setting up dominoes, laughing maniacally at what would happen if they were all to fall, but too distracted or chicken to push down that first one.
I stopped, looked at the piece as a whole, and realized that if this were ever to be made for true public consumption, it would have to be stripped down and rebuilt, essentially from the ground up.
The first rewrite shortened it to approximately twenty-five chapters. They were gleaned directly (mostly) from the old narrative and it was hastily glued together. I realized that the old parts of the story didn't fit with the writing style I had grown into and was using as glue. Bear in mind that this was at least seven or eight years after the inception of the idea and I had toyed with other projects. I don't think I had found my true voice then, as pretentious as that sounds.
The second rewrite took a sledgehammer to the whole thing. It was a full rewrite from top to bottom. Aspects were kept, certain scenes were retained, but everything was getting a rebuild. It was better, but it still wasn't what I really wanted it to be. The plot and certain characters places in it started on a bumpy road late in the book and, I realized, it had taken a much more serious turn which wasn't the overall feel I wanted.
The third rewrite, the one you might be familiar with, brought more jokes, more reference comedy, and more self-awareness to the cast and the setting. It wound up fast and funny and witty; the way the people these characters are based on would be in this situation. It found its voice and I'm extremely happy with it.
In the end, the idea really came from tempting others into a role-playing scenario. Forcing open their imaginations with a simple question and letting them pick who they would want to be in a fantastic superhero world. I knew that my friends wouldn't let any powers really change the kind of people they were, so I worked with that and wrote as much in their voices as in my own.
The answers would determine the artwork I would create. I polled more people for this than I ever wound up drawing. At one point, I came up with Zoey and Chaucer (original ideas, not based off of real people like most of the cast) as drawn characters and started to come up with a backstory for them. I quickly decided that they would be villains for the group of people I had drawn. A story started to form.
The cast was pared down to seven, the title was set, and I created the logo. On most original artwork, it appeared as a very large badge kinda like the X on the uniforms of most of the X-Men. Eventually, all the drawing and contemplating lead to writing a serial about it on livejournal (back when that was the hip place to be). I would post a chapter a week at first, then lapse into a chapter a month or so, for a dedicated audience of five or so. It went on for years until I hit something like the 71st chapter, in the middle of a failing time-travel based storyline, and realized I had lost my way. Literally. LOST was my way. I had set up so much in the background and had so little action. I was all sizzle and no steak. I was a kid who just kept setting up dominoes, laughing maniacally at what would happen if they were all to fall, but too distracted or chicken to push down that first one.
I stopped, looked at the piece as a whole, and realized that if this were ever to be made for true public consumption, it would have to be stripped down and rebuilt, essentially from the ground up.
The first rewrite shortened it to approximately twenty-five chapters. They were gleaned directly (mostly) from the old narrative and it was hastily glued together. I realized that the old parts of the story didn't fit with the writing style I had grown into and was using as glue. Bear in mind that this was at least seven or eight years after the inception of the idea and I had toyed with other projects. I don't think I had found my true voice then, as pretentious as that sounds.
The second rewrite took a sledgehammer to the whole thing. It was a full rewrite from top to bottom. Aspects were kept, certain scenes were retained, but everything was getting a rebuild. It was better, but it still wasn't what I really wanted it to be. The plot and certain characters places in it started on a bumpy road late in the book and, I realized, it had taken a much more serious turn which wasn't the overall feel I wanted.
The third rewrite, the one you might be familiar with, brought more jokes, more reference comedy, and more self-awareness to the cast and the setting. It wound up fast and funny and witty; the way the people these characters are based on would be in this situation. It found its voice and I'm extremely happy with it.
In the end, the idea really came from tempting others into a role-playing scenario. Forcing open their imaginations with a simple question and letting them pick who they would want to be in a fantastic superhero world. I knew that my friends wouldn't let any powers really change the kind of people they were, so I worked with that and wrote as much in their voices as in my own.
J.P. Bidula
The Unlucky Seven sequel. Seeing as the original called out the tropes of a superhero origin story, the sequel is going to do the same with... well... sequels. Characters we left for a while will make appearances, the main story will be progressed and, of course, the cliffhangers at the end of the first book will be addressed. This isn't LOST. I'm not going to forget about any plot points and leave them to rot. It's been a bit of slow goings what with promoting the original, so please, be patient. I'm looking hopefully toward a Summer 2015 release.
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