Is your Bible really holy? If not it should be.

Now I’m NOT talking about the BIBLE…Yeah, that one–the book of morals, prophecy, wisdom and suffering written by several authors, interpreted in many ways and used as tool for good and evil throughout human history. Not that book.

I’m talking about a story bible!

If you are a creator of any universe that comes form your mind…then if you want to make that universe a reality, the first thing you need to do is get your bible in order.

When I create a world, I create a Bible…first and formost.

My story bible is the book of knowledge I create that tells me everything I need to know and then-some, about the story I’m working on. Whether it is a comic book, short story, novel, screenplay etc…I always make a bible in one form or another.

I have almost finished building my Bible for I Never Sausage A Place, the sequel to the comic book, Gates–that you can view for free on this website.

A PITCH BOOK vs A BIBLE: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
Below is a video of the pitch book I made for the Gates comic book.  This is basically a nicely designed representation of my bible with major edits and the inclusion of new chapters used to sell whoever reads this on the world of Gates.

Pitch books are used to pitch your idea and are an abridged and more advanced form of a bible. They typically have more imagery and are much more geared at selling the awesomeness of your universe to others.

A story bible is a collection of information that allows me as writer to have every secret and detail of my universe, plotted out so that I may write my story.

So here’s a little info about it for all of you folks that are curious as to how I prepare and create a story bible.

HOW I BUILD A STORY BIBLE:
I love to build the bible for my universe. It is the most fun thing that I do because I get to combine all of my  favorite create juices into one collection. And by creative juices I mean my art, design and writing skills being used to bring forth my vision.

Now for someone who doesn’t draw or design, just writes, your bible may look different. That is cool. Your bible is a reflection of what you need to get your project completed. Every bible is different…not one are the same. It is the culmination of all of your exciting ideas you are going to be using for your project. Now mine just happens to be a transmedia eBOOK, with art, imagery, video and of course, pros, so it’s got some interesting additions…and it is pretty large.

You have to take into account that the length and complexity of your story idea will usually dictate the size of your bible.

So in building my bible, one must first have the ingredients to cook up their creative masterpiece.

THE MAIN CONTENTS OF MY BIBLE:
At this stage in the game, to me, nothing is sacred in terms of ideas so I will always be editing BUT the bible helps you commit to some ideas more than others as you know they are the backbone of your story.  The bible for me is a psychological conquer for my story as it gives me the first semblance of a solid foundation. In my opinion, my bible keeps me from unnecessarily changing things. Sometimes, it is an easy trap for writers to  fall into in terms of changing things just for the sake of changing things.

So here are the contents of my bible for my transmedia project, I Never Sausage A Place.

1) Brief Synopsis: 
My bible begins with a brief synopsis. For my current needs right now, I have a nice four paragraph (one page) synopsis that summarizes the story of I Never Sausage A Place as well as I need it to be. As This is what I lead off my bible with.

2) Detailed Synopsis/Outline:
Next section is where I take the synopsis and expand it…I write something of hybrid synopsis and outline. These are the major plot points of my story, flushed out in clear fashion. It is here that I have the bones and the guts of my idea, laid out clearly so that I may use them as my guide when I write the story.

3) Characters:
This is the ultra detailed version of my character descriptions. Along with my character descriptions, I always include an image. I would prefer to use my art for the images but if  I don’t have the artwork completed, I will use some kind of representation of who I think would be a great actor or person in my life, that could play the part of that character.

4) Source Material:
This is usually the biggest chapter of my bible because it contains all of the background history about the setting of my story. For this section, I have a ton of collected articles, wikipedia entries and other resources I have found online that comprise all of the information I need to make my setting consistent. This is the research I need to keep my story entrenched in my world. These are details I need to write fearlessly and educated on my topic.

WORSHIPPING MY BIBLE:
So now I have my bible…what do I do next?

I get old school…and I print it out!

I just print all the four sections I just outlined above and punch holes in them, and place them in a three ringed binder.

Now I have a physical specimen of my ideas in my hand, advancing the psychological foundation of my ideas, even one step further.

Cherish your bible and be grateful that you have completed it because now you are on to the next magical journey…WRITING YOUR STORY!

And remember, you are the GOD of YOUR BIBLE and the creator of your world and all of its’ inhabitants.

WHAT I LEARNED PUTTING TOGETHER MY BIBLE:

1) You can never have to much information when creating a bible for your universe.

2) Specifically in my source material section, when editing out info that I may not need, taking a conservative approach to deleting was a smart move.  I feel like the more I have, the better because even if I never use it is there to support me.

3) A synopsis is there to be edited. But get it to a good point and move on. There will be lots of time to edit your synopsis.

4) The psychological power of having completed a bible I can hold in my hand is incredibly strong.

5) Be organic with the contents of your bible. This is all about what I need to create my story. Period. Everything I need is here at my fingertips so I can write unchained.

FOLLOW HAL HEFNER’s JOURNEY INTO THE HOLY BIBLE OF 1987–I NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE!!!!

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halhefner@gmail.com and please make sure to sign up for the Gates mailing list, otherwise you will not be permitted to pass “Go” and collect your $200.

PRODUCTION TIME!:
All my equipment is packed up; video cameras, digital cameras, microphones,  computer, ipad, iphone, sketch book, pencils, pens and last but not least, my outline and location schedule book. I’m ready.

GOING TO NEW YORK FOR PRODUCTION:
In just a matter of hours, I leave for upstate NY. Many of you around the world have no idea what upstate NY is…well it’s called Up-State because it is the top of the state, near Canada. It is a very interesting place that many people haven’t a clue that it actually exists. The area is rich in history from many points of you, many documented and others not so documented.

The eBOOK I am currently working on, the prequel to the Gates Comic Book, I Never Sausage A Place, is ALL about upstate NY, in the year 1987. This is the flagship story that falls somewhere in between a John Hughes film and a short story by HP Lovecraft.

WHY NEW YORK?:
Any good writer will give you the advice to “write what you know”. Well I know this area well. I lived around it or in it for 24 years before I moved to Los Angeles in the late 90′s. Like I mentioned in the paragraph earlier, upstate New York has been the home of many historic events and continues to be a hot bed of strange happenings to this day.

The place, mentioned in I Never Sausage A Place, is called Mohawk NY. Mohawk is named after a tribe fo Iroquois indians that once dominated the area, but where cheated, murdered and unfairly treated by white settlers.  As a kid, I could feel the spirits of the Indians when I would walk in the woods by myself. I want to bring that feeling to all of you in the eBOOK, I Never Sausage A Place, the prequel to the Gates comic book.

Mohawk is also the area in which the Last of The Mohicans took place, in the famous novel by James Fenimore Cooper.

The area is beautiful in the summer and boasts some of the most exquisite natural waterfalls, creeks and streams in New York. It is also loaded with myesterious places that I cannot reveal today as it might tip my hand at some things to come later in the book. But here is a little hint, UFO’s, Haunted Places, Conspiracy Theories and oh, so much more. SO MUCH MORE!

VIDEOS ABOUT THE MOHAWK VALLEY:
The town of Mohawk is nestled in the Mohawk Valley and is loaded with goodness, evil, mystery, terror and much more. Below is a cheery side to a slice of American Pie. Here are some videos about this place to give you an idea of what is ahead of me.

As the nuttiness ensues, I will keep you all posted! Until then…

Mohawk Museum at Weller Library open Monday Nights from 4-7 pm

FOLLOW HAL HEFNER’s JOURNEY THROUGH THE DEPTHS OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY:

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halhefner@gmail.com and please make sure to sign up for the Gates mailing list, or I’ll change my name to Ryan Dempster and you can trade me to the Braves!

FINDING MY TRIBE:
This week I spent a lot of time with Los Angeles’ Transmedia folks. From hanging out at Fourth Wall Studios, to learning, mingling and having fun with the gang at a Tuesday night Transmedia event located at USC.

There is something to be said for the phrase, “birds of a feather, flock together.”  It is a very true statement in many ways. I think it definitely applies to all things in life but most importantly a person’s career. If you’re not chasing your passion or working in a place that you like or with people you like–my advice is to leave and find your “kind of people” to work with.

In addition to my illustration and design career here in Los Angeles, CA, I’ve also spent many years as a recruiter for the tech, creative, advertising, marketing and PR industries.  When you know exactly what you are staffing because you have personal experience in it, it makes you better than the other goombas doing the same thing.

So the advice I always give people, is find a company to work for that does what you love, when you’re NOT working. For example, if you like cupcakes and you design websites, well find a company that specializes in food and or try approaching your favorite cupcake places to see if you can help them.

My point is this: FIND YOUR TRIBE

And this can either be a social “tribe” to chill with…or a “working tribe”.

But finding a tribe to gel with is important for many reasons and here are a few.

1) These are the people that share the same hobbies, love and passions as you.

2) They can teach you more about what you love and want to know.

3) They can open new doors for you in areas you may not know of currently.

4) Synergy with like-minded folks is priceless.

TRANSMEDIA LA:
I have a couple of tribes I belong to. Transmedia LA is one that I am pretty happy with.

I am on the board of directors for a very cool group in Los Angeles, CA that organizes monthly meetups that focus on Transmedia Storytelling. It’s a really awesome group of human beings, and a very talented core of folks who have loads of experience to offer and are kind and willing to help anyone who asks.

TMLA was originally started in 2009 by Scott Walker, founder of Shared Storyworlds.com , Tara Brown and Jay Bushman. These three individuals form the core group of intellects and story lovers who have welcomed me into the Transmedia space with open arms.  Through Scott and Tara I have met some AMAZING people and I have learned a ton of things.  Jay Bushman, was very instrumental in introducing the founders of Fourth Wall Studios to me–a place I currently work as a contract recruiter, 3 days a week.

I am the Transmedia LA Community Director, meaning I greet folks when they sign up and at meetups and try and help people mingle with others who could help their careers. In this role I have been to some amazing events and I’ve met some awesome people that have helped me out greatly.

 Join us if you are in the LA area!

WHY THIS  TRANSMEDIA LA TRIBE GOOD FOR ME?
My art tells stories. I write stories and I live life like it is one big story…so I sought out storytellers and found Transmedia LA.

I have always felt like I was more of a storyteller than just a comic book artist, comic book writer or illustrator.  I hate labeling myself anything as it limits you and I always feel uncomfortable calling myself anything as I feel I disrespect the other talents by not mentioning them.

I’m at home with other storytellers.

STORYWORLD:
From Transmedia LA I found Storyworld! 2011. A very cool convention that is like one big Meetup that brings the best transmedia folks around the world together, in one building for three days. It’s cool, it’s fun and I met so many great people…from Rich Silverman to Brian Clark. These are good people.  Smart people.

It is happening in LA this year…and the leading minds in Transmedia from the entertainment industry including game developers, publishers, film, television and marketing executives, as well as indie producers and content creators. This is the place to learn about what and what not to do and strengthen your story as well as make connections, forge new partnerships and plant the seeds for future collaborations.

It fuckin’ rocks!

If you want to do something creative to tell your story…this is the place to go.

 WHAT I HAVE BEEN GRATEFUL FOR IN REMINDERS AND NEW LESSONS THIS WEEK:

1) I’m a lucky guy because I have found my tribe of transmedia enthusiasts, creators and nerds to bounce ideas off of and collaborate with and LEARN FROM!

2) I’m a lucky guy because I have met some really talented people over the last year through this transmedia tribe. They have extremely helpful and influential in my life and creative direction. It’s something to be grateful for.

3) Health brings happiness and happiness is even better when you live your life following your passion.

MY INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC OF THE LAST TWO DAYS:

It’s the 4th of July and scientists believe they have discovered the GOD PARTICLE. I’m gearing up for some fun time with the family, and listening to Kevin Bryce’s new ultra psychedelic ambient album, entitled Open Spaces–which has a God Particle vibe. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Kevin Bryce’s music, you’re missing out. The guy is brilliantly talented and his music to me gives me great vibes to write and work to. Check it out if you dig ambient music. It’s very sci-fi and pulls you in on the journey.

Kevin provided some great tracks for the Gates universe already and he has more o contribute as well. Glad to have him onboard for the journey.

Here’s one of his videos. And like me, this guy is a one man production shop for music and psychedelic videos.  Enjoy!

eBOOK PLATFORMS:

The last couple of days have been pretty interesting. I’ve been noodling around with some images, gathering old photos and some old art, which I will share later on, but the bulk of my time has been spent researching eBOOK platforms.

1) What I’ve Learned So Far:
The eBOOk space is constantly changing–at light speed. Things are advancing technologically and companies that are not only aggregators for distribution, are popping up all the time, but also production companies who will convert your files for you. And then their are those who do both. So there are basically two roads to travel, do it yourself or have someone do it for you. Which one you will chose depends on your skill set and your budget.

2) The Players:
There are quite a few players in this arena.  I could go on about them all but I’m just going to focus on the ones I have chose as who I want to work with. So here they are ranked in order of importance for me.

• iBook Author:
  Apple’s iBook Author is the way to go for me because it is so graphically friendly AND you can embed video. It basically allows you to build your book into an app. Now you can go with basic books as well, but for what I am trying to do with I Never Sausage A Place. I need this platform first and foremost. It’s free software you download and has been compared to building a powerpoint presentation which is pretty basic. The cool thing is, there is already a growing number of templates and other enhancements around this community so you can really push the boundaries of what can be done in a book. This is the best artistic platform for sure. You just create and upload and once it is approved, you are ready to be sold in the Itunes store! I can’t wait to dig in to this software!TEMPLATES:
  http://www.ibooksauthortemplates.com/ DOWNLOAD IBOOK AUTHOR:
  http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/ 

   

• Smashwords:
  For me this platform is number 2. They are a cool company with a good philosophy and they campion the indie author for sure. All I have read up on them is nothing but positive reviews. You can easily create your books and bam, they are ready to be distributed almost everywhere, including Barnes & Noble’s eBookstore, Apple’s iBooks, Sony, Kobo, and Baker & Taylor’s Blio and more. However it seems that the only drawback they now have is that their books don’t sustain the type of graphic look and I feel I need…But that’s okay, it still allows me to reach some folks that just want to read the book. I’m hoping I can get some images in there, but not sure yet as I need to investigate this further. But I like them a lot.

• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP):
  This platform sounds similar to Smashwords in a way, so less graphical control. I hope that things can advance between the time I finish the novel and now but ya never know. Either way, I need to get on Amazon, it’s huge.  And with this, I have covered myself on all major eBook platform fronts to sell the book.

FOLLOW HAL HEFNER’s JOURNEY SOCIALLY:

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halhefner@gmail.com and please make sure to sign up for the Gates mailing list, listed on the very top left hand column of the website!

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY:
Sunday, July 1st, 2012 brings with it, a lot of hope and some seriously exciting things.

Today I, Hal Hefner humbly, and officially begin a new stage of development that has been in the works for quite some time.

But now, today 7/1–I make it official. Gates the, free web based comic book, that has been running on this website since 2011, has concluded with the end of Chapter 2.  As of now I have stopped production on the Gates comic book series. I left it in a well calculated cliffhanger so that I may continue it, at the right time and in the right media.

Right media?

Yes, right media. By that I mean that there are other options I would like to explore. These will be revealed in due time, but at the moment, my focus has shifted…to…

I NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE:

If you are a regular on my website, and have been a fan of the Gates comic book, the news above may disappoint you.

But fear not.

I am embarking on a new journey–IN THE GATES UNIVERSE.

Did you ever wonder, who the hell the ConGenement were? What is the Vril? How did humanity end up in this oppressive, Dystopian world in which Gates finally has escaped from?

Well, your answers are coming.

ENTER: I NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE

What the hell is “I Never Sausage a Place?” You must be thinking… Well if you look closely, in the graphic above, there is a sign, with a Pepsi symbol on it. This sign is very pertinent to the story, hence it is the title–and a fitting title it will be.  The market that this sign resides on, is also an integral part of the story…the story of Holden Gates.

INSAP is how I NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE will be abbreviated from now on… IT is the next chapter in the Gates universe.

It is a recipe for fun and exploration.

It starts where the story first began, in a small town in upstate New York in the year 1987.

Add in real life strangeness and then combine conspiracy theories, a big hunk of science fiction and mystery with a pinch of romance, and mix it into a bowl with some high stakes adventure and you have the recipe for  I NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE.

TRANSMEDIA eBOOK:

Yes, I am calling this Transmedia because I have no other word to describe this project at this time. It is a multi-platform, multi-media based story that I intend to bring to life using every aspect of my creative reach.

INSAP, is going to be produced in eBOOK form, and will be loaded with full color illustrations, photos and embedded videos that will enhance the mood and feel of the story, with multiple areas for engagement and outreach into the vast netherworlds of the Gates universe. So…let’s recap:

eBOOK + embedded video + Full Color Illustrations + Photos = I NEVER SAUSAGE A PLACE

In addition to this I will also be launching some fan based Transmedia tentacles that will be revealed in due time. My main goal is to bring the entire Gates universe, into a robust, living breathing form of storytelling that has a unique delivery for the viewer/reader/consumer etc.  All of my favorite books have made me sad because I finished the book, or  left me wanting more, imagining how things might unfold. Well I want to give more extensions at the end of the book–some easy to find, other hidden like easter eggs, to pull you further and further down the rabbit hole.

PRODUCTION JOURNAL:
I am doing something quite different from when I developed the Gates comic book. As I create this eBOOK and bring it to life, I will be documenting my journey. All of my accomplishments, setbacks, mistakes and other odd tid bits I will be running into, will be documented, right here on this website for all to see.  My goal is to educate others so that you may learn from my mistakes, as well as to join me on the journey and hopefully have a hand in participating in creating your own little chasm of this exciting world that will be familiar, yet very alien.

I will try and update my Production Journal on a daily basis but such is life, it may end up happening when I have the time. I’m a busy beaver but I promise to try and keep this updated everywhere I go.

I will be continiuing to document my journey particularly on a few select social networks as well, each site will vary in content, which are as follows:

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twitter

Facebook

Google+

So please join me on my journey as I take the world of Gates to a whole new level, and I really am excited to have everyone join along!

Also feel free to reach out to me at halhefner@gmail.com and please make sure to sign up for the Gates mailing list, listed on the very top left hand column of the website!