Different is Scary is Good - Vol. 1 Ed. 13

Oct 13, 2020 10:06 pm

World Builders' Guild Newsletter

You know you're doing something right when you scare the crap out of people.


When I was in 3rd grade, I invented a hybrid species of cat-owl-racoon cartoon characters called the Hoots. They were easy to draw and you could put them in just about any situation or costume. It was one of my first expressions of building a world. Everybody I showed thought the Hoots were adorable (thanks, Mom). My career as the ringleader of the Hoots franchise was taking shape. I felt I was about to crack the big leagues.


image

Hoots in their natural environment. (Credit: I drew these this morning over coffee. Not bad for a 25-year layoff.)


One day around the winter holidays we were assigned classmates with whom we were expected to exchange greeting cards. I still can't figure out why we did a forced-pairing greeting card exchange. Public education in the 90s was weird.


Most other kids brought in store-bought cards with popular characters like Spider Man or My Little Pony. I knew my product was superior in every way aside from maybe the quality of the ink. My oversized bi-fold was brimming with dozens of Hoots doing stuff like eating cake, jumping into pools, and blowing party streamers. They all had on Santa hats. You couldn't think of a sweeter holiday ensemble.


I was sure the girl who I had been assigned to would be over the moon. We'd be going out by the end of the week. A Hoots fan for life, if nothing else.


The day of the classroom holiday party arrived. After watching A Charlie Brown Christmas and binging some home-made cupcakes, it was time for the greeting card exchange.


She handed me the hastily-signed My Little Pony card that 17 of the other kids in the class also got. I graciously thanked her, wished her happy holidays, and unveiled my masterpiece. This was it.


She looked at me like I served her a steaming hot shit sandwich.


I faked an eyelash incident to wipe the tears from my eyes while I caught her mumbling something like, "Thanks? What's a Hoot? I like Minnie Mouse. This is weird." She whipped my hard work into her desk and turned around to find out if her friends had received a card as stupid as the one she just got.


I was 9 years old, but I had a feeling that the lump forming in my stomach was terminal. The Hoots universe was stillborn.


Later that day, I told my mother what had happened. I asked her why this girl hated my idea so much. I put a lot of effort into creating a fun world to share with her and customized it for her holiday enjoyment and it still wasn't good enough.


My mother, who was my biggest fan but also a master of perspective, told me something that would stick with me forever, "Sometimes, people don't understand things that are different from what they're used to. It doesn't mean it's bad, it's just new and they don't know how to react yet."


Ah! I didn't offend this poor girl, I merely scared her with something new and adventurous. Her reaction wasn't an indictment of who I was as a creator. She was struggling to figure out what should be so interesting about this world I just threw her into. It might take 5 or even 10 holiday cards to bring her around.


Perhaps a Disney-themed Hoots spectacular would get her on board! (I didn't know anything about copyright law back then, so I'll claim fair use if the Mouse ever sends their lawyers after me.)


Loud and clear, Mom. Different isn't bad. It's scary. It's dangerous. It's exciting.


It's the only way to break new ground on your next fantastic world.


Get digging.


Sharpening the Toolkit



To future worlds,

Matt Ventre


If you received this email from a friend, be sure to subscribe to the World Builders' Guild Newsletter and follow me on social media for more exclusive content on world building and creative processes!


imagetwitter.com/mventre

image matthewventre.com

imagetwitch.tv/PlayArchitect

imagematt@matthewventre.com


Love what you're reading? Tell a friend to join the World Builders' Guild today.


image

Comments