Blue Period: Building Authenticity

Raise that floor!

Announcement!

Don’t worry, there’s still a preface too. But this announcement is silly exciting. On October 12th, I’ll be interviewing Tsubasa Yamaguchi (Blue Period) at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in NYC. It’s gonna be a blast, and I’d love to see you there! You can get tickets (which include a signed book) here: Tsubasa Yamaguchi in Conversation.

Okay, now about that preface…

---

Preface

I think I’ve mentioned before that writing is hard. This is known, yes? The sheer act of balancing all the different elements, never mind knowing what to say and what not to say, it’s enough to drive you bonkers. I mean, I just spent at least a few minutes debating if ‘bonkers’ was the write tonal choice.

It’s madness, telling stories, so any way you can “hack” the system and set yourself up for success should be embraced, yeah?

Then step right up, because what I’m bringing to the table today is one of the main things I repeat to students over years and years of teaching creative writing. It’s quick. It’s simple. Dare I even say it’s easy? It just takes a little attention to detail, but it goes a long way. And Blue Period—my muse for today—does it masterfully.

It’s also a lot of fun. Trust me.

Preface over!

There is one thing (well, many things, but for today’s piece, just one thing) that Lord of the Rings—specifically the books—does better than any other story… literally ever. And it is often made fun of for it, but made fun of respectfully, because even those that make these jokes know that Lord of the Rings is unmatched. Unmatched in what, you ask?

In authenticity.

The world of Middle Earth is so detailed that every tree has an etymology. Every language has verb conjugations. Every king has a royal lineage. It is so rich in details that it feels real the moment you step into it.

This serves a major purpose. As readers, we immediately trust Tolkien because it’s clear he knows exactly what he’s doing. The more authentic details, the more clearly things make sense, the more trust your reader has in you, the author. The more trust that you aren’t just making things up. Which of course you are, but don’t let your readers linger on that fact too long.

There are a lot of ways to hook your readers. Lots. But one of the most sustainable and effective ways to hook them is to write in such a confident and authentic narrative voice that your readers trust you. They know you know what you’re doing, and that everything must be intentional, so they have leniency, even if they detach from the story slightly, or their interest wanes.

They can fall back on the knowledge that you know what you’re doing, as the creator. That’s especially important when building long-term readers. The more consistent and authentic you are, the more they come back, the longer their line of credit with you.

Blue Period is the living, breathing definition of building authenticity immediately, an authenticity that essentially serves to raise the floor of the series. And there are two main ways that Tsubasa Yamaguchi accomplishes this.

1. Teaching art alongside the story.

2. Showing art in the context of the story.

Given that this is a manga about art, it’s imperative to establish credibility in the artistic scene. Same way that Dinosaur Sanctuary establishes credibility around dinosaurs, or Blue Lock establishes credibility around soccer. If you don’t sprinkle knowledge of the subject matter into the story, you are missing a massive tool that your readers need.

Back to the two strategies employed by Tsubasa. Both equally important, but we’ll start with number one. Throughout the course of Blue Period, as Yatora learns about art and mediums and styles, so too does the reader. I found it funny that one of the first official reviews of Blue Period gave it a B+ because it explained so much about art. As if that’s a bad thing.

It’s not a bad thing at all. It would be if it was just dumping exposition in here, but it’s not. Yatora is actively engaging with these lessons as he takes them in himself.

Point number two, and while I said both points are equally important, this one is my favorite, because of how well it interacts with the story. Tsubasa depicts classical art and original art and brings in artists to create that art within the story, so that as readers, we can see the paintings and sculptures in the manga, but they look so good, and so authentic (which is the word of the day).

The first time this really hit me was when Yatora did his self-portrait. Seeing his creation process, how he sketched out numerous approaches, then his mirror breaks, which leads to another scrapped approach, but then he figures it out and paints this really intriguing self-portrait inspired by a broken mirror (see blow) that feels like a genuine work of art… within a work of art.

All told, what Blue Period does to place itself in unique company is organic to the story itself. It never feels like an info dump. It’s not like, and I’m sorry to do this again, but it’s not like Jujutsu Kaisen info dumping how every cursed technique works in the final boss battle. That’s labor intensive to get through. It’s the 1 Chronicles of manga. (I’m really proud of that one.)

Authenticity mirrors real life, which by extension means the more you use it, the more your story mirrors real life. When you look at your book shelf, do you just see “books,” or do you see “the complete collected works of Edgar Allen Poe, haphazardly shelved in no particular order, and a copy of Mr. Popper’s Penguins wedged in between”?

Which evokes more of an image? Which creates more of a reaction?

Like all things writing, it’s a balancing act, you have to know how much is too much and how much is necessary, but it also has to be working in tandem with other story elements. This is a recurring theme here at MangaCraft, yeah? Tsugumi Project uses theme that never has to stand on its own. It’s always hand-in-hand with other story elements. Gachiakuta uses setting to weave into characters. Witch Hat Atelier uses a unique magic system that’s intricately tied into the plot.

Story elements need to work together, especially those “lesser” story elements. Character can and often does do its own thing. It’s the most important. Same with plot, it doesn’t necessarily need passengers.

Blue Period uses authentic artistic depictions and technique—more generally known as authenticity—but that authenticity never has to stand alone. It’s always hand-in-hand with Yatora’s growth as an artist, or his increasing understanding of how to create his art, or utilize his own artistic vision. Or it’s used to advance the story, show his artistic failings or successes.

It would have been easy for Blue Period to avoid showing the art side of the canvas, to show general artistic scribblings, but to actually show works of art creates a mirror of real life.

The funny thing about authenticity in a story is you don’t really have to do it. If all this sounds lame, that’s fine, you don’t need it. You can still tell a real great story without those specific details. But then again, you can tell a great story without a defined setting too. You just lessen your own chances of telling a great story by not using all the tools in the tool belt.

Everything in the story has to serve a purpose, maybe even more than one. And for Blue Period, that authenticity builds a trust with the creator, it establishes an authoritative tone, it does so much. All at the same time.

Hey, creatives. What sort of details does your story rely on? Historical details? Location specificity? It could just be the brand of the lipstick on your characters bathroom sink. Take the time to label, to be specific, to be genuine. Here’s the exercise: Take a scene where your character is engaging with something other than another character. Could be nature, their closet, their job. Look at that interaction and every time an object or tree or task comes up, go one level deeper in specificity. Do they admire a tree? Make it a peeling white sycamore tree. Do they have to generate leads over the phone? Have them generate leads for a fiberoptic software company. Etc.

Hey, fans of Blue Period. Do you find the artistic details worth you a grade deduction to a B+? And, bonus question, see you in NYC on October 12th?