Benjamin Martin's Blog: More Things Writing, page 46

My Start in Writing

There are a million writing blogs floating around the web, mostly because that is what writers do.  What better way to get our thoughts and ideas out to the our audience than with a blog.  Yet, I’m no expert on writing, publishing, or the in and outs of getting an agent.  I just love stories, and while I have been writing a blog on Japan for the last two years, I thought I would take the opportunity to share a little of the story behind how Samurai Awakening came to be.

Back in 2010, I was working as an English teacher on a small island in Japan, by small I mean 550 people and an area less than 12sq kilometers.  I played sports almost every night since there was not much else to do… then I sprained my ankle.  I was an avid reader, but it was the middle of winter, there were no classes (winter break) and I had read every book in my teacher housing.  What to do?  I decided to make my own story.

You will probably read about most writers having had long dreams of writing.  How they had written since they were children and always knew they wanted to be a writer.  I HATED writing.  I was (am) lousy at spelling.  I even loathed reading assigned texts in class.

Then I started going to the library after school in junior high.  There I found my love of reading.  Not the classics, but stories.  I would get so engrossed the entire world around me would fade to nothing, completely lost in the worlds created by words. I still loathed writing, right up through my AP English class in high school, where we were forced to write at length about Dostoyevsky and his kin.

It was not until my Modern Japanese History class at the University of Arizona with Gail Bernstein that I enjoyed writing about something.  I devoured every textbook and somehow managed a very difficult A.  That class planted secret seeds, a not-quite-conscious desire to write.

So my leg was injured, I had time on my hands, and so I thought out a story.  I had never written more than maybe thirty pages for various reports, so I quailed at the thought of writing a novel.  I could see the story as a television show or comic, but my artistic abilities always lay in other directions.  I began with a screenplay.

The words, simple dialog and action, flowed once I understood the format.  In two weeks, I had an 86-page script.  I lived with it for a few months, editing and expanding it.  Then I sat down and truly began.

The first drafts were clumsy and incomplete, but they came quickly.  In a month, I had the first draft.  I spent entire revisions trying to lock down mechanics and grammar before I even knew to worry about voice, story arcs, and all the things that make a memorable story.

My friends put up with the poor drafts and all my questions, and even more drafts.

But I kept with it.

I am still learning.  Every time I write, I see new opportunities to grow, and new things to discover.

A lot has happened since those first drafts, but that’s for a later post…

Samurai Awakening Trailer

This week we're finally able to debut the trailer for Samurai Awakening. It's been a fast two years, but with less than three months to go before the release, things are starting to speed up!

Checkout the trailer on Youtube. Or on the official Samurai Awakening website.

The start

There are a million writing blogs floating around the web, mostly because that is what writers do. What better way to get our thoughts and ideas out to the our audience than with a blog. Yet, I'm no expert on writing, publishing, or the in and outs of getting an agent. I just love stories, and while I have been writing a blog on Japan for the last two years, I thought I would take the opportunity to share a little of the story behind how Samurai Awakening came to be.

Back in 2010, I was working as an English teacher on a small island in Japan, by small I mean 550 people and an area less than 12sq kilometers. I played sports almost every night since there was not much else to do... then I sprained my ankle. I was an avid reader, but it was the middle of winter, there were no classes (winter break) and I had read every book in my teacher housing. What to do? I decided to make my own story.

You will probably read about most writers having had long dreams of writing. How they had written since they were children and always knew they wanted to be a writer. I HATED writing. I was (am) lousy at spelling. I even loathed reading assigned texts in class.

Then I started going to the library after school in junior high. There I found my love of reading. Not the classics, but stories. I would get so engrossed the entire world around me would fade to nothing, completely lost in the worlds created by words. I still loathed writing, right up through my AP English class in high school, where we were forced to write at length about Dostoyevsky and his kin.

It was not until my Modern Japanese History class at the University of Arizona with Gail Bernstein that I enjoyed writing about something. I devoured every textbook and somehow managed a very difficult A. That class planted secret seeds, a not-quite-conscious desire to write.

So my leg was injured, I had time on my hands, and so I thought out a story. I had never written more than maybe thirty pages for various reports, so I quailed at the thought of writing a novel. I could see the story as a television show or comic, but my artistic abilities always lay in other directions. I began with a screenplay.

The words, simple dialog and action, flowed once I understood the format. In two weeks, I had an 86-page script. I lived with it for a few months, editing and expanding it. Then I sat down and truly began.

The first drafts were clumsy and incomplete, but they came quickly. In a month, I had the first draft. I spent entire revisions trying to lock down mechanics and grammar before I even knew to worry about voice, arcs, and all the things that make a memorable story.

My friends put up with the poor drafts and all my questions, and even more drafts.

But I kept with it.

I am still learning. Every time I write, I see new opportunities to grow, and new things to discover.

A lot has happened since those first drafts, and the story will continue...