The Truth in Fiction
by Nathan Barra
For
many, college is the first opportunity for true independence in a young adult’s
life. You see, up until that point, I had focused on preparing myself for a
highly technical education and career. However, now that I was in one of the
best engineering schools in the country, I decided that I wanted to do
something completely different, just for the joy of the activity and not for
any personal gain. To this end, I spent three and a half
years on stage performing live improvised comedy. Improv practices
and shows were bastions of silliness and joy in an otherwise demanding
curriculum, but they also taught me more about how to tell stories than
anything that has come before or since. Despite going to an engineering school
with a small liberal arts program, university was when I learned the most about
my writer’s craft.
"You
see Nathan,” one of my mentors in the troupe once told me, “there is a truth in
comedy. People laugh because a joke makes them uncomfortable, makes them look
at something in a new way, or because they appreciate the irony of a situation.
In all these cases, the line you're delivering must ring true in order to get
the best laugh." Though he was trying to improve my stagecraft, I have
found that the validity of the maxim extends beyond the stage and onto the
page. We find meaning in stories because they ring true to our lives and experience.
We put our reader in impossible situations and rely on suspension of disbelief
to carry the day. Yet, despite the killer robots, wizard battles, and
intergalactic warfare, our readers will believe in our words and world if and
only if the characters, their motivations, and decisions ring with a truth they
can recognize.
When
I was invited to submit to the One Horn to Rule Them All anthology, I
struggled with several story concepts. They were all interesting and
technically sound, but none felt true to me. However, several weeks before the
anthology’s deadline, I attended Phoenix ComicCon. One of my favorite parts of
conventions, especially ComicCons, is the cosplay. I am very passionate about
stories, after all. To see characters from my favorite works step off the page
and walk into the real world is thrilling.
During
the long drive home from Phoenix, Arizona to West Texas, I had plenty of time
to think about the convention and realized that I could take the idea of
cosplay one step further. What would it take to make a cosplay so real that it crossed
into reality? What if some magic existed that would bring the imagination to
life? How would this power be used and abused? For me, it seemed pretty obvious
that at some point, someone would make themselves into a superhero. That was
the central truth, the catalyst I needed to make the rest of the story ideas I
had brewing come together and fall into balance to become The Girl with the
Artist’s Eyes.
From
that initial concept, I started looking for other truths. For a cosplay to
standout to a veteran ComicCon attendee, it had to be either fantastic or
horrible. In this truth, I found the comedy I used to infuse Walter Sams’
heroic costume. Also, from my observations at conventions, cosplayers are just
as fond of villains as they of are of heroes. From this truth, I found conflict
and one of the dramatic twists my beta readers loved best. Finally, I needed to
balance the fantastic ideality and antics of Walter Sams with a second main
character. I turned to another truth; Life is hard, and it is our struggles
that not only bring value to our experiences, but also reveal to us what it is
that we value most. From this seed, I created the character that eventually
became Catalina.
Mixing
these pieces together and balancing their elements against each other, I
created the main themes of my piece: good versus evil, the discrepancy between
intent and reality, and the necessity of the choices we make to shape our world
and the obligation they incur. Looking at these central concepts, you can see
that they are based in solid truth, as almost any theme is. By grounding my
story in truth, I allow my reader to accept the fantastic as a matter of
course.
In
the end, I'm very proud of the work I did with the story. It has taken its
place in the One Horn to Rule Them All anthology next to professional
and semi-pro authors I respect and admire. What makes this anthology even more
special is the story behind the herd of purple unicorns. You see, I have been
blessed enough in my career to be able to afford conventions like the Superstars Writing Seminar. It has been one of the most
professionally rewarding experiences I have had, and has given me the
opportunity to build a fiercely loyal and supportive tribe of fellow writers.
However, because the seminar attracts big name writers and editors to teach,
though fairly priced, the cost of attendance is out of the reach of some
writers. Recognizing this, what started as a tongue-in-cheek example at last
year’s seminar has turned into a charity project with the full support of the
19 authors and the publisher of the anthology. Early on in the project, the
writers and publishers of the One Horn to Rule Them All anthology
decided to channel all the profits from the sale of the anthology to a
scholarship fund set aside for writers who would benefit from the seminar but
cannot afford to go.
Most people don't expect highly
technical types like myself to have hobbies like improv or writing novels.
However, I find it perfectly suiting. You see, engineers are trained to take
large complex situations, situations where the overwhelming quantity of details
obscure the truth of a matter, and break everything down into simpler, more
manageable parts. When constructing a story, there is so much more involved
than just punctuation and grammar. Dozens of details need to be carefully
orchestrated in order for a story to come together with the elegant precision needed
to achieve maximum emotional effect. It’s like engineering in reverse; instead
of deconstructing situations, I put them together and ensure that everything is
balanced. At the core of this balance is an essential maxim: storytellers tell
lies to our readers to reveal important truths. Without that core of meaning,
the story falls flat, but with it, something truly magical can happen.
The
Girl with the Artists Eyes is a story about a man who finds an ancient artifact which
he uses to turn himself into a superhero in order to save Stan Lee from a crowd
sourced ransom scheme, and the lengths to which Catalina, an innocent con
staffer, must go to manage his incompetence and truly save the day. For more
details on this story and other stories in the anthology, see www.NathanBarra.com/books.
Though
Nathan Barra is an engineer by profession, training and temperament, he is a
storyteller by nature and at heart. Fascinated with the byplay of magic and
technology, Nathan is drawn to urban fantasy and soft science fiction in both
his reading and writing. He has been known, however, to wander off into other
genres for “funzies.” He is an active blogger, not only on his own site,
NathanBarra.com, but also with a group blog called the Fictorians (www.Fictorians.com). Nathan is always
up for a good conversation, so please drop him a line through his contact page,
or write on his Facebook wall (www.facebook.com/WriterNathanBarra).
