Why I Wrote It: Superheroes And Worldbuilding

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Superheroes and Worldbuilding is one of those books that seems obvious for me to write. The superhero stuff has been big for years when I wrote this book in 2018, so that had to be my motivation?

Not really.

Sure, that was one reason – superhero stuff was getting more exposure, so why not a book on worldbuilding and superheroes? It was timely, but that was a minor motivation.

The major motivation? I love superheroes and have been writing about them for years, and superhero fiction is fascinating because of what it is. Allow me to digress as I discuss how superhero fiction is both a genre and something more.

On one level, the superhero genre seems to be its own thing. It’s got certain beats and tropes, the common idea of “alternate identities fighting crime and such.” I could expound on the superhero genre in detail, but suffice to say, “it is a unique genre, and I find it interesting.”

But there’s another layer to the superhero genre – it’s a “meta-genre.” Superhero stories of the past were often their own thing – crime drama, supernatural revenge, etc. These tales began crossing over in the early years, and soon you had detectives and aliens versus demons and bank robbers. The superhero genre is a “wrapper” for genres we’d otherwise not combine coming together.

We have seen genre fusions in vogue the last decade or two, but superheroes were doing it decades upon decades ago. We didn’t always notice it because we wrapped them up in another genre and made four-color adventures on paper.

I’ve written superhero stories alone and in groups, watching various genres come together seamlessly. I’ve played superhero RPGs doing the same. Though I fell off of most American superhero comics, I still follow shows and of course, anime and manga. I love superheroes.

So the reason I wrote this book? It was timely, and I had developed a lot of opinions to express! Now I had a unique way to do so, with my book series.

Of course it helps people which was a motivation. I have sequels I may write as there’s more to get out of my head. But as for now I got some of it into “print.”

If you have a passion, deep opinions, why not do a book about them? It’s your record, your thoughts recorded, your opinions made accessible. It’s worth it personally – and worth it as you may help others!

Steven Savage

Steve’s Update 3/9/2021

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

And here’s my somewhat regular update! First thing, giveaways!

I am in a LOT of giveaways

Stay tuned for more giveaways! I want to be in at least one at all times for you!

Now the rest of the update!

  • Way With Worlds: Definitely on hold at least until May, possibly until July. The subject has been picked – Disasters – and I might write several at once.
  • A School Of Many Futures: Got my editor’s notes back, and I got a good consensus on what needs to be approved, so I’m on the final rewrite before prereader phase 2. If you want in on that let me know!
  • Seventh Sanctum: Solved my code problems, putting in error checking. Still projecting a new site in the fall, with much more stable code and maybe some new features. Really need to take a break to write a new generator as I keep getting ideas . . .

Steven Savage

Actually, Let’s Write About The Pandemic

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

I’ve been dreading that we’ll see an onslaught of “Pandemic tales” in the realm of books. Fictions with familiar plagues, quick books offering useless advice, and so on. I’m obviously and worried we’d see too many people jumping on the plague train.

I’d now like to take that back.

First, I want to take that back in that my assumptions were very negative. There are doubtlessly many people who will write about the Pandemic for good reasons. I focused too much on the negative reasons people might write on it, which was out of line.

My second reason is that I’ve come to realize that we need to look at the Pandemic in fiction, advice books, and memoirs. We need this so we can process the experience.

The Pandemic is overwhelming. Even those of us thinking we’re handling it are not functioning at 100%. Even after the Pandemic, we’ll need to understand our experience and that of others. The written word is a way to do that.

Fiction lets us understand experiences from a safe distance and even a different perspective.

Nonfiction lets us analyze and evaluate data and analysis.

Memoirs let us step into the place of another and see their experience.

Each written work is a gateway into another way to see what we went through.

Writing is a way for us to handle, understand, and share what we’ve gone through. Sure there will be bad work, exploitative work, and so on – but isn’t that happening anyway? I shouldn’t judge the Pandemic by the standards of what goes on anyway.

However, there’s a second reason I realized we should be fine with “Pandemic writing.” Some of us who write may need to write it. We want to get out our feelings, or our inspirations, or record our experiences. We as writers may need to write these books that will come.

Our muse is going to drive us to write these books, so why not? Hell, I’m even considering one at this point (from my unique approach, of course).

So, I take back anything I said about “oh, gods, not an onslaught of Pandemic books.” Writing is how we deal with, learn, understand, and experience things. The Pandemic is appropriate material.

(Besides, we can criticize lousy or opportunistic work no matter how it came to be.)

Steven Savage