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Anonymous writes...

You often say that ideas minus their execution are subject to unfair second guessing and that you've learned this the hard way. Can you share the specifics of this realization? What story did you share that brought this about?

Greg responds...

Lots of Gargoyles stuff. The first thing that comes to mind is Nashville's name. But there were all sorts of things.

Response recorded on June 15, 2017

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RexBlazer1 writes...

Hello Greg,

Not so much a question as an attempt to clear some things up. You said that you didn't remember our first exchange, so, here's a link:
http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=21729

The follow-up exchange:
http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=21290

I do hope this clears things up. I checked the links on my end and they appear to work. If they don't work for you then I'll just have to copy and paste, which will probably take up more space than I wanted to use.

Greg responds...

Okay, yeah, reread it all. (You've got the links switched, but they're both there.)

As I suspected, I wasn't upset the first time. I don't even seem to be annoyed. I was just giving you my honest response to your question, which was that I thought to some extent it was the wrong question for a writer to ask.

As for the second post, as I noted, you seemed to have a better handle on things.

So no worries on my end.

Good luck with your stories.

Response recorded on March 22, 2017

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qwerty writes...

As a general rule of thumb, how far do you like to plan ahead with stuff you write?

Greg responds...

All the way. At least to the end of each season, with at least some clear sense of where we'd go next.

Response recorded on March 20, 2017

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RexBlazer1 writes...

Hello Greg,

I appreciate your answer to my first question posted here regarding my thoughts toward the nature of antagonists in stories. However, bear in mind that it had been months since I asked that question, and my thoughts and feelings on the subject had already changed by the time you answered. I realize that I could've thought it out better, as well as have applied better wording regarding how I asked the question. What I SHOULD'VE said in describing the types was this:

1. The kind who are selfish and just in it for themselves, not caring who gets hurt in the process.
2. The kind who believe they fight for a great cause and the betterment of others, but more often than not create a lot of damage and destruction to those around them, believing that it's for the greater good.

However, I can see why you would consider this type of thinking reductive, as it doesn't allow much room for complexity, and characters and people are not that simple. I do realize that everyone think's that they are justified in some capacity or another in their actions, and that they can still do bad things and not care as well. There are multiple kinds of villains, and they can have varying shades of the two kinds I mentioned.

The thing is, when I asked, I was still trying to get an idea of how to go about doing things, and I'd previously asked some writer friends what they thought on the matter, and they went along with the same line of thinking, leaning towards one type or the other.

Not to mention, because of a lot of things, including, but not limited to, my 900-MPH autistic brain, I end up having to rethink ideas over and over again in terms of what I'd like to do and what I don't want to do with the story. And as a result, I'm stuck working and reworking on a story that keeps changing. Regardless, my autism is not an excuse, but I hope it helps to explain things.

Anyway, I only wanted to apologize for upsetting you with the way my question was worded, and my line of thinking at the time. I didn't think it through fully, and you delivered some deserved-flack my way for it. It wasn't my intent to upset you the way I did, and I wholeheartedly regret doing so. My words were short-sighted and not well-thought out.

I'm trying to do better about the way characters should be, and I'm aware of what to keep my mind open about.

Greg responds...

Hey RexBlazer1...

Here's the ugly truth. I don't remember our previous exchange. I can't search user names here, so I tried searching "antagonist," but nothing came up for that under RexBlazer1.

So I have no memory of what you suggested. And no memory of how I responded. I kinda doubt I was "upset". I rarely get upset here. I do get annoyed fairly often, so maybe I was annoyed. But I can't say for sure.

Everything you wrote this time sounds pretty good to me, however.

Response recorded on January 04, 2017

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Kelli writes...

Hi Mr. Greg! Firstly I'd like to say how much I truly enjoy your shows and shows you've written for, you've been an inspiration to myself as a writer for a long time. You're one of the greats!

I have some questions about writing, if that's okay.

1. As stated previously, I admire your writing greatly and wanted to know if there are some tips you could give me in writing a series focused on a team and writing for multiple characters? I'm currently working on my original ideas, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit that a lot of my writing pace and story planning/arcing is influenced by watching shows such as Spectacular Spider-Man, YJ, TMNT and many others including comics like Kanan: The Last Padawan (I own every issue)that you've written for. But writing for multiple characters can become difficult since I write in third person.

2. Have you ever gotten "bogged down" so to speak in writing a series planned on spanning over a period of time?

3. Lastly, do you find it hard to focus on what's happening in the series currently instead of jumping to the conclusion because of exciment for the end? If so, how do you stay focused?

Just for fun question: When not writing for tv, what's your prefered voice for writing, first or third?

Thank you for your time, and I can't wait to read/watch what you write next!

Greg responds...

1. I've answered questions like this before, so check the WRITING and WRITING TIPS archives here at ASK GREG for more details. But it's hard to answer your question, because I'm not clear what you're trying to accomplish. When you say you're "writing a series," what does that mean? Television? Movies? Books? Comics? Short stories? A proposal for one or the other or all? Are you asking me about choreographing action or about juggling storylines or something else?

2. Sure.

3. Sometimes. DEADLINES help me focus.

4. I don't have a preference. It depends on the needs of the specific story.

Response recorded on November 21, 2016

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Anonymous writes...

What do I need to write in character biographies? As I'm making my project, the way I do my character bios, I write a lot of backstor, the characters' personality, birthday and age, and a bit of present, etc. Is that all necessary or do I need to do them in a better order?

Greg responds...

There aren't any rules. You do what you need.

Response recorded on November 18, 2016

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Marvelman writes...

Hi. A little while ago I requested a character oriented slant for a hypothetical third season of Young Justice. I want to rescind my request. As I sit here working on my YA novel, I realized that no writer can work that way. He/she can only tell the story she wants to tell and hope other people like it.

Greg responds...

Yep.

Response recorded on October 10, 2016

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Taylor writes...

Hi Greg,

In your opinion, what are some of the key factors that separate a good story/script from a poor one (especially as it applies to writing in episodic television)?

Thanks

Greg responds...

Uh...

Good structure.

Story that comes out of character.

Dialogue that sounds like something human beings would actually say.

Some amount of surprise.

And if we're literally talking about the script itself: PROOFREADING!

Response recorded on October 07, 2016

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Mexi Gremillion writes...

Hi Greg!

My name is Mexi Gremillion and I am going to be writing for film and television when I finish college in May. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions possibly about your experience as a creator and writer of fantastic television series like Gargoyles and Young Justice via email if possible, but it is totally fine if I ask you publicly on this sort of forum. I love your work and it's totally fine if you don't answer this, but I hope you do. Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Mexi Gremillion

Greg responds...

Hi Mexi,

I'd prefer to keep things in this forum. I know you asked this question nine months ago, so if you're still checking this, I'd recommend that you look at the Ask Greg archives under WRITING and/or WRITING TIPS. See if your questions were asked and answered already. If you still have more questions, post them here.

Response recorded on September 20, 2016

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RexBlazer1 writes...

Hi Greg,

I'll try and keep this short, as I'm sure your busy and having things to do, but basically I would like your honest opinion on something. And no, don't worry, it's not about ideas for any of the things you've worked on, nor anything that I or others have written.

Anyway, I'm an aspiring writer who wants to make his own series, and there's an aspect of storytelling that I can't seem to decide on. You see, I have always felt that there are, primarily, two types of villains:

1. The kind who do bad things and don't care
2. The kind who believe that their actions are justified

Summarily, I can't seem to decide which one is worse, as it could really be argued either way. I've asked some friends what they think, and have gotten back different answers.

Admittedly, the self-justifying villain tends to fall under a trope that I have a disliking towards:

Knight Templar - a villain who is convinced that he/she is the hero.

And, after thinking about it, there is at least one thing to appreciate about the "bad and don't care" villains; at least they have no illusions about what they want or what they're doing. Plus, we've seen a lot of the self-justifying villains in recent years, to the point where I think it might be overused. Which is why I think a balance between the two needs to be met, as too much of one can get old fast.

But anyway, I mainly just wanted to ask which type of villain you think is worse; the "bad and don't care" kind, or the self-justifying kind?

Greg responds...

I take some issue with the reductive nature of your question. And so I think you're going about things the wrong way. It's not about which is worse. It's about what fits your character. Take, as an obvious example for this website, GARGOYLES.

We have two rather unique and memorable lead villains, DEMONA and XANATOS. I suppose you could reduce Xanatos to your definition of a type one villain. And I suppose you could reduce Demona to your type two. But there are moments when Xanatos thinks what he does is justified, and moments when Demona does a bad thing and just doesn't care. There are also moments when each has done truly heroic things.

The point I'm making is that a great villain is nothing more or less than a great CHARACTER. Write a character with consistency, backed by consistent motivation and history and I don't really care if he or she is type one, type two or type three. (Because, among other things, I doubt that there are truly only two types.)

Response recorded on September 08, 2016


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