Wow…it’s been a while. I’ve been so busy with my job it has been tough to post anything. I am hoping I will be able to at least take some photos this month. Anyways…
While trying to think of a topic for a new post, I asked myself the question, ‘How did I get into storytelling?’ Not just when I first picked up a pencil and paper or when I physically started typing words to a page. I thought back and wondered what some of the contributing factors were in my life that lead me to want to tell stories for a living (my dream). Here is what I can remember, and what I attribute to what made me the person I am today.
People in My Life
My Mother – When I was out of school for the summer as a kid, teachers would give us reading lists. We were to read a couple of books and write a book report by the end of our vacation. Having limitless amounts of energy, I would have much rather been outside riding my bike, swimming or playing sports with my friends. So that’s what I always ended up doing. My mother always tried to get me to read, but to no avail. I was a stubborn child. She even bought me a few of those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books from a yard sale in hopes that I would read them. One summer I actually got her to go to a local video store and rent the movie version of a book on my reading list, so I could complete my book report. The movie, ironically, was Fahrenheit 451. I sat down and watched it and I was surprised at how interested I was in the story and it made me want to read the book. After that, I ended up reading those cheesy ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books my mother had bought me years prior. I doubt she would remember any of this ever occurring, but this is the first time I remember reading anything outside of school that wasn’t comics.
My Father – From an early age, I recognized that my father loved to tell stories. He tells them to friends, family members…and even complete strangers he meets. I will never forget the one story he told around a camp fire, that involved a dog attacking a woman, which lead to my fear of dogs when I was little (I won’t get into that here). Sure most are simply anecdotes, but each is a little story in itself with a beginning, middle and end. Whenever he would speak with someone, I would try to listen in because he always seemed so excited to share these stories with people. Now that I’m older and I hear my dad say a little too frequently, “It reminds me of this one time…”, all I can do is smile.
Mr. Murphree – Of course I didn’t realize it at the time, but Mr. Murphree was one of the best teachers I ever had. He was one of my English teachers in high school, who kind of reminded me a little of Richard Dreyfus. He was easy-going, liked cracking jokes and loved to read. He made me want to read. We would have classes where all we would do is take turns reading aloud from our books. At certain points of a story he would make it a point to stop and point out, or explain certain things. Sometimes he stopped simply to appreciate good writing. I also remember reading ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and then watching the movie in class, comparing the two versions of the story. He also taught me how to write well, and how to succeed on my SAT’s. The thing with Mr. Murphree, is that everyone I knew who had him as a teacher, liked him. He must be retired by now, but I like to think that he taught until he could physically teach no more. Every student needs a teacher like Mr. Murphree.
My Interests
RPG’s – The late 80’s brought me a device that would change the world of gaming, and my life, forever. That device was the Nintendo Entertainment System, and my parents happened to get it for me one Christmas. I can remember being addicted to The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. Fast forward a few years later, and out comes the Super Nintendo with ‘advanced’ graphics and even more challenging games. My favorite games for this system were Role Playing Games (RPG’s). These games let you play as a main character through a well thought-out (sometimes) storyline. Unlike side-scrollers (the Mario games), RPG’s have more depth and pull the gamer into the story…sometimes never to return for hours. In fact, I remember playing games like Final Fantasy III and Secret of Mana for many hours of my formative years. I went on to play more games like these, longing to see how each of these engrossing stories would play out.
Comic Books – A hobby of mine growing up, was collecting and reading comic books. There used to be a comic book store in the center of my hometown called ‘Buried Under’. I would always go, once I had saved up enough money from my allowance, to buy a comic book or two. Some of my favorites were X-Men, Batman, Spiderman and The Punisher. At home I would read them and wish I were those characters. I would also pretend to be those characters, and even dress like them for Halloween many years. At one point, I started making my own comic books by folding 8×11 paper in half and stapling the center ‘binding’. I would use the Marvel (my favorite) characters, and just create my own storyline. They were horribly done, as I was really young when I did this, but this was one of my first documented attempts at telling a story.
Movies/TV – I won’t go too much into this one here because it’s obvious…and everyone that knows me, or reads my blog, knows that movies are my passion. I’ve seen too many movies that helped to influence how I tell a story and I still say that all movies teach me something about storytelling. Even the bad ones.
In Conclusion…
I re-read this post to edit it and realized how much of a nerd I made myself out to be. Comic books, choose your own adventure books, role playing games?! Seriously? I’m kicking my own ass as I write this. Kidding! Nerd or not, these people and things made me who I am today. And you know what? I kind of like who I am.
leoarsenault 