Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dynamite, entertainment, jim zub, michael uslan, Pathfinder: City of Secrets

"I Think Action And Violence Has It's Place In Storytelling" – Writing For Pathfinder

Published Sun, 28 Sep 2014 18:00:04 -0500

I think when a writer interviews another writer, you tend to get the most in depth questions as opposed to just an interviewer who has done thousands and thousands of them. Here we have Michael Uslan (Justice, Inc.) talking about the writing process and working on Pathfinder with Jim Zub.

MICHAEL USLAN: How, amid the saturation of fantasy and sword & sorcery in comics and in movies and on TV and in video games today, do you manage to make what you do unique? What challenges do you face as a writer to differentiate your work from the others and make it stand out to the readers?

JIM ZUB: I think we could ask the same thing of practically any genre: sci-fi, super heroes, crime stories, teen drama, you name it. We're a media-saturated culture. With so many stories available to the potential audience, how do you make something that stands out? It's a really tough question and I'm sure if I could answer that definitively I'd be much richer than I am right now.

I can say that compelling characters are more important to me than genre conventions. Having an interesting cast, whatever setting they're in, is what keeps me (and I think a lot of other people) on board a story. Create engaging characters, have them spark off each other, and give them something worth fighting for.

MU: Do you first write a Bible for your series before writing individual stories? Does someone else provide the Bible that you then must adhere to? Can you explain to the readers what a Bible is in the world of comics?

ZB: I tend to be structured when I'm story building, and that tendency helps me quite a bit when I'm working with licensed properties like Pathfinder. I put together a full outline detailing the plot and sequence of events that drive the story and character write-up about the cast and their personalities for the publisher that gets approved before any of the art development happens.

For a property like Pathfinder there's a lot of world material already covered in the sourcebooks and online, so I dig into that as well while I'm planning out the story to make sure it all hangs together. The Paizo editorial team doesn't expect me to memorize every last part of the game lore, so they provide helpful feedback and suggest ways to incorporate other elements of the game alongside the core plotline as well.

MU: What is your position on violence in the media? How do you incorporate that in defining who your target audience is?

ZB: I'm not a fan of violence as mindless torture porn, but I think action and violence has its place in storytelling. Anyone can write a story that's gory or violent just to shock people. I want the action in my stories to have meaning and for the reader to be engaged because they care about the cast and they're in danger.

MU: Have you read the classic novel, THE PATHFINDER by James Fenimore Cooper?

ZB: I haven't. I also don't drive a Nissan Pathfinder.I'm all about Pathfinder the fantasy RPG. Those other Pathfinders don't matter to me. :)

MU: What brings you the greatest joy in writing comics? What is the hardest part? What percent of your job is typing out a script and what percentage is just thinking?

ZB: I love those unexpected synchronizations that happen when I'm writing and I realize that material I put together earlier ties together well in exciting or unexpected ways. Those "Ah-HA!" moments are always great.

The toughest part of writing is trying not to repeat yourself. We all have well worn ruts we can fall into creatively if we aren't concentrating and I work hard to keep things fresh, but it's not easy.

I find scripting quite quick compared to breaking down the structure of a story initially. That story building process can be slow for me, but once it's built and ready the actual panel by panel description and dialogue tends to go quite quickly. Let's call it 75% thinking/building, 25% scripting.

For more information on Pathfinder: City of Secrets, click here.

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