As a consumer of books, television, video games and music I am driven to find the cathartic moment of the media. In my many years, I’ve come to realize that a deeper and longer history behind a show or a book series will evoke a more potent reaction. The backstory is integral to the motivation and that moment of release. The side stories that so often interrupt the main plot of a great story exist only to add emotional weight. As important as the character depth might be for helping the story make sense it, ultimately, helps to deliver the punctuation mark at the critical emotional beats.
I wish I had the long history of Doctor Who so I could evoke that tear with the depth of motivation as when Sarah Jane looks upon the blue box for the first time in nearly 40 years. Or even the heart-wrenching moment Luffy gives Nami his hat adding “Yep” when, nearly broken, she finally asks him to help. You can make it happen in twenty two minutes… two hours or fifty years. It’s the reason I read, the reason I watch, the reason I listen. Give me that moment.
At the heart of this I hope we have done that with WRIGHT. I find buried deep in the words of the story my own desire, my own history and my own breath of life in Hypatia, Jet, Gaius, Meeko and all the others. For me it comes through on the page when it is needed most despite all the editing and streamlining we do as authors.
