A Quest for Story Parts: A Return to Borderlands

Think of a song you’ve adored for awhile. Or a movie you’d watch anytime. Something you’ve seen a dozen times. Or an episode of a show you like. Consider some form of consumable story-based media that you’ve experienced over and over. Something you would call “your favorite.” Something where knowing the ride only enhances your enjoyment.

We all have them. I think I’d watch any episode of Arrested Development anytime, anywhere (and I am not above thinking it has a lot to do with Ron Howard’s voice. But, I might be stupid, so...) Comedians memorize certain stand-up routines. Musicians start out learning other people’s songs. Screenwriters watch the movie then read the script to see how they did it. The repetition, the study, the analysis brings deeper understanding and enjoyment.

Side note! Want to find out if your musical hero was a real bad ass? Talk to people who can play their stuff. Watching how Steve Vai stepped in for Robert Fripp on the King Crimson Beat Tour. Good heavens. Fripp said Vai was the only guitarist he thought of when the idea of pushing forward came up. Amazing musicians talking about amazing musicians.

(Ahem.) Let me just say, I never promised anyone that I would not bring Steve Vai into any and all conversations. You’ll just have to accept that part of my voice sounds like Steve Vai’s guitar. Wah-wah?

Anyway, one of the rides I love to take is a video game called Borderlands. They made a movie out of it and I have not seen it (and won’t until after I go through the game again). I want to identify why I love this game so much.

But wait – I don’t have this kind of time, do I? To play a game I’ve already played through a couple of times? I have to have some higher purpose. I have to connect this to Script Goodness.

So, I made a deal with myself: I would connect my time re-playing Borderlands with a certain amount of writing and publishing. And the writing comes first.

So, why do I absolutely love this game? Why this game? I am going to go through this game again only now I’ve got on my story eyes, my storeyes, on.

I got my storeyes on!

I figure the more you look at how other people solved their issues in and around constructing their story (and if you’re consuming it, they probably did it well) the more vocabulary you can build around identifying and solving those issues.

To discover and then work your particular method of getting it from brain to script, you can practice taking apart stories, like an architect. You take it apart piece by piece and appreciate what that particular piece or element is doing there.

All that to say, I’m going back into Borderlands to identify specifics of why I love it so much.