What’s influenced me?
Have I always been a storyteller?
I haven’t. So, sometimes I ask my self where did it all come from? What got me interested in storytelling? I guess it started with my original love for comic books! When I was a kid, I’d always loved cartoons, superheroes, and probably even more so the idea of these characters having superpowers! The fact they could do extraordinary things like climb walls, run faster than the speed of light, morph into anything they wanted, have adamantium claws come out of their hands - it’s clear I loved the X-men from a young age! haha but that was it, I loved the unexplained, I loved the idea of there being endless possibilities to what someone could be. I know it’s all based on a fantasy world, but you know, the X-gene in x-men meant that each expression of that genetic mutation would result in some incredible power that these guys would either use for good or for bad! So maybe that’s it? The fight between good and bad is always at the essence of my storytelling?
It might have started with Cable
So, my first big interest in stories came from comics. I tried my best to collect ‘Cable’ from the local comic book store - I’m pretty sure the store was called Another World but now it’s known as Forbidden Planet. And Cable just fascinated me! He was this time travelling mutant, who was the son of one of the main characters in the X-men franchise, Cyclops. But Cable’s mission seemed like it was always to correct the time continuum and protect time itself. And in doing so, fight for some sort of peace, a peace that he knew was needed but never quite agreed with. He always seemed torn between being selfish and looking after his own needs, and doing what was right for the world. He was like this supreme soldier but with only himself and his conscience to report to. With added extra power, and a huge gun. But there was one thing, - he’d been poisoned with a technological virus which would slowly erode away at his physical being. This virus turned living flesh into cybernetic alloy so his whole left arm during his whole story was solid metal. And that was it. Over the years I collected different iterations of this comic book and I’ve always had a huge soft spot for Cable in any new story. This lone soldier that nobody quite trusts but on his day he comes through and does the impossible, and then just disappears. He was never quite good and never quite bad. A bit of an enigma, a mystery and that’s what I liked. I liked to keep guessing what he’d do next! Maybe I’ve got some of that in me now too! and it’s definitely in my story telling - the feeling of not being quite sure of what’s round the corner but reading anyway out of curiosity or excitement!
Interested in checking out Cable or any other comic online!? Click here
It continued with The Wasteland…
When I was studying English Literature during my A-level years (age 16 -18) I found myself fascinated by two things. The writings of T.S Eliot. And Gothic Literature.
With T.S Eliot, I was just so mesmerised by his poetry in The Wasteland. We would spend time in class trying to understand what he meant, why he used the language he did, and probably most time just deciphering his written prose. His poetry twisted and turned and used words I had to re-read. His positioning of words in each stanza had hidden meanings and second meanings, and I think what I loved the most - or what I found the most intriguing was every other sentence in his poetry felt like it could be a quote for the ages, deliberately inserted into the poem to stir up some emotion and there was always some subtle nod to real life too!
“April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.”
Check out The Wasteland here
And when I read my own work back sometimes, I feel the same types of feelings as when I studied T.S. Eliot. Everything makes sense to me in some weird, slightly unhinged, but also slightly incredible way! haha I feel like I can take from it what I will, and that’s ok. It’s ok to not fully understand it but just to sit back in awe and think “what the hell is going on here….but I love it” haha I think that’s one of my biggest takeaways when it comes to storytelling. The story is my own, so I write it however the hell I want, write whatever it is that I feel and let the words flow in whatever order they need to. and just write. What made me want to continue reading his poetry was just my sheer inquisitiveness of not knowing what was going to be said next and the excitement that came with thinking “well I wonder what that means?”
Thinking about it more broadly - it’s the same with video games! I hope nobody calls me up on comparing T.S. Eliot to Video games because that’s not quite what I’m doing haha I mean I love playing the RPGs like Skyrim, Ghost of Tsushima, Assassin’s Creed, Final Fantasy - because I love exploring, and I love going into each and every corner of the game and finding things and picking up hidden items! And I think that’s what makes a good poem, makes a good story! It takes you on a journey into wonder (wait where have I heard incredibly catchy phrase before :D)
…and then Mr Hyde
So what about Mr Hyde? Wait let me be more accurate - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The teacher at school (I can’t even remember his name now) was like a ball of energy sometimes bursting at the seams! and he taught us about the idea of the other, the ego, the IT, the ‘I’. And this book seemed to perfectly depict how this other manifested in real life. The deep hidden desires of man would burst and bubble vigorously enough that they would tear down the constraints of what was socially acceptable. In all his eagerness to be, to achieve, to gain titles, Dr Jekyll ultimately repressed his inner self - his shadow self? - enough so that it would take the shape of My Hyde and show up in all it’s gruesome beauty. I loved this concept. That we repress what we feel isn’t acceptable, isn’t appreciated, isn’t valued in society. And it gnaws away at us. It sits on our shoulder always taunting us. and it made me think originally it’s probably a small prod in the back saying “come on let’s do this, we can make such a great job of it” to becoming something more like “you’re too weak to do that anyway, it’s good that you don’t have the courage”. By constantly pushing it further down, it festers, it lingers and it becomes the very antithesis of your being! There are two themes here that I think I like to bring into my work: 1) the constant fight between your passion (creativity, joy, fulfilment) and your profession (education, expectation, validation) and how one navigates through this and; 2) that feeding your insecurities, the very insecurities that you have created through repressive thinking and fear, will only lead you further into darkness and futility. Your power lies in embracing all that makes you, you. This is something I strongly believe in.
And in more recent times it’s The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran is a writer that I absolutely love. The Prophet is just a brilliant piece on succinctly explaining and even demystifying the trials of life - love, marriage, laws, prayer, friendship. It’s just a really great piece of work that I sit with when I can and use to reflect on what life means to me. How I can maybe live a more fulfilled and meaningful life. It’s mesmerising in how it’s written as it’s all from the point of view of a wise sage who has settled and lived in this island city and grown to love his fellow people. and as he is due to leave the island to go back to his country of birth, the islanders pose to him these questions and he shares with them what he has learnt.
The reason I like this is because it shows how much one can learn just by observing, being patient, recognising patterns in people and taking meaning from them all. But I think where I really feel inspiration and influence is the rhythmic and hypnotic tone in his piece. It really draws me in to everything he is writing. Similar to T.S. Eliot in that I’m continuously reading just because I’m so captured by the text, not knowing what’s next. But the difference with The Prophet is that I feel once I’ve read through it all, I feel like it’s me who’s narrating the story or well it could be.
It’s such a great experience reading it. You feel like you’ve lived the life of the wise sage. I feel that when I have experienced life, and all the ups and downs, and seen and observed, that maybe I too will be able to impart some profound advice like Almustafa does to his fellow city dwellers. I genuinely feel like every time I pick this piece up, there is another incredible quote that I can learn from and admire and think about. And it’s these hidden meaning, these smallest of small nuances that Kahlil Gibran picks out that makes his writing so profound. THAT is what I’d love to be able to do in my work. To get people thinking about themselves, how they live, how they do what they do, and maybe question themselves a lot more - in a good way of course! With my work I want to make people feel a little uncomfortable but to be ok with that uncomfortableness because there may be some meaning behind it because of the questions and thoughts that I’ve raised in my work!
I just opened the book now and in the section on ‘Death’ this stuck out to me:
“For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its relentless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Pretty inspired writing right? and just one more that I turned to in the section on ‘Beauty’:
“It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears”
I think that really is the perfect place to end this blog post. That idea of beauty really captures what I want to do with my work. I want to be able to translate the beauty of the images and songs and thoughts I have into something that other people may appreciate and learn from! and in doing so take readers on a journey!
Check out why The Prophet has never been out of print here
So there you have it! I really hope you guys enjoyed reading my post and let me know what you thought about my influence and I’d love to hear about what influences you too! and send through any cool recommendations for similar books or writers or even if you’ve got some great ideas about your writing methods I’d love to hear them! I think my next blog post will go into some of my automatic/conscious writing methods but stay tuned for some more poetry too! Thanks guys!