The Miyazaki Method (for Writing)
Submitted by diaskeaus on Sat, 04/28/2007 - 01:05
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- Start writing, and develop the story as you go along.
- Don't waste any ideas. Try and utilize them in some fashion, to the benefit of the work.
- Continually think about the characters. Visit the locations in the story with the characters, repeatedly. Visualize the locations and the characters interacting within those locations.
- Write about characters you love, or characters you would love to read about.
- Model the characters after real world issues. Keep reality in the fantasy.
- If the story wants to be bigger during the creation process, allow it.
- Allow the story to flower in the unconscious. Don't allow logic to dictate the story.
- Use stock images, photographs, paintings, and other sense elements to influence the direction of the story. Visualize the elements of the story with these in mind.
- Don't impose your own vision of the world into the story; keep the world open so that the reader can form his or her own vision of good or evil.
- Keep your story aimed at children. Write with devotion. And remember to infuse the story with the idea that a new beginning is always possible. Things can be changed.
- Distance yourself from the role of storyteller, and rather, become an artist who believes in the ability of a story to stimulate the reader.
- Keep a healthy balance between fantasy and virtual reality: virtual reality is a denial of reality, whereas fantasy (imagination) brings usefulness to reality.
- Keep your characters humanized.
- Use personal experience to influence elements in the story. Powerful experiences work well.
- Make every scene pivotal. Don't create any central scenes, but infuse certain scenes with powerful symbols that show how the main character has grown.
- Defer to earlier artists and writers, and allow their work to actively influence the story.
- Take breaks between stories. Work on smaller projects in between big projects.
- Whatever happens, happens. Don't be concerned about success or audience appreciation. Don't let what happens impact your work, but use wisdom: if something really works well, don't be afraid to stick with it.
Author Comments:
Based on an interview with Hayao Miyazaki for the webmag Midnight Eye, this is an interpretation of his answers, transformed to how a writer should write.
You can find the original article here.
Nice, good work.