Fairytale Reader: Eight Things Buffy The Vampire Slayer Has Taught Me About Storytelling

I haven't been blogging as much later, and if you check out my twitter feed it'll be pretty obvious why. Buffy the Vampire slayer has literally taken over my life. Since I broke up from school about two weeks ago, I've watched four seasons of Buffy, and two and a half of Angel (it's spin off series). Basically, I have no life. If you haven't watched Buffy yet, you need to. I just finished the show and although the last season wasn't as good as the rest, it wrapped up with a satisfying and empowering conclusion, solidifying it as my favourite TV series of all time. I cried so many tears. So, so many.

I can't get this out of my head, and I don't even think that I want to:

If you seriously think that Angel is better than Spike, you can
leave.

I really don't want to neglect my blog whilst I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms, so instead I decided to blog about it. Trying to keep my fangirling (kind of) relevant, I'm going to share eight things that Buffy taught me about writing/storytelling.

I'll try to leave out spoilers, but there will be an abundance of fangirling and GIF's. You've been warned.

TAKE RISKS, AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

I'm not just talking about cliches, but taking a complete risk away from the norm can really enrich a story. Buffy was the first ever network TV show to have a serious, long lasting lesbian relationship. One episode was done almost entirely without dialogue, and another was a musical. Yup, and it was bloody brilliant. The risks that Joss Whedon took Buffy from being entertaining to amazing. Why write the same things as everyone else when you could do something different and something better? Experiment with a new format, or something which people may not like or agree with. If it pays off, it will set your writing miles apart from anything else.

FANTASY FICTION ISN'T JUST ABOUT FANTASY

If you've never seen Buffy, I wouldn't be surprised if you dismiss it as a trivial and silly show. A lot of people dismiss genre fiction too, and think that fantasy/sci fi isn't as 'serious' as other fiction. That's a load of bollocks. Buffy explores a lot of serious topics, and if you think that it's not as good because it's fantasy watch The Body. I don't want to spoil it, but it's genuinely one of the best TV episodes I've seen in any genre. Yes, it's a show about monsters, but that doesn't mean that the themes and issues that it explores aren't valid or important. Just because you're writing in one genre, it doesn't mean that you're not allowed to take themes, elements or plot points from others.

CHARACTERS ARE WHERE THE HEART IS

I do care about defeating a demon or closing the hellmouth, but what I care about more is the characters. It sounds bad, but I'm more invested in relationships between friends, lovers, and family than the world ending. Buffy does this really well, and in the end they're not just fighting to defeat this season's Big Bad, but for each other. There are breakups and fallouts, and that's ultimately what keeps the reader going. I'm not watching for the monsters, but instead to see if my ship gets together, or to make sure a character gets over an emotional difficulty. You could have an amazing plot, but if I don't care about the interactions between characters, I'm not going to keep on reading.

BE UNPREDICTABLE YET BELIEVABLE

Have you ever read a book where the plot twist is so unpredictable that it's just stupid and ludicrous? Or a character has died for no reason other than to shock the reader? There is a certain season five death which was so unexpected and shocking, yet it made complete sense. It wasn't as if Joss Whedon killed this character to put the reader on edge, but instead it enriched the story. No matter how surprising it was, it worked because it made sense. Equally, the season five finale ended on a very surprising note but once again, it made sense. It was foreshadowed so the reader didn't reject it, but that was so hidden that I don't think anyone would really work out what was about to happen. That's so much better than the alternatives, and whilst it's so important to keep the reader constantly on their toes you don't want to throw them off their feet too often.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE AWAY WHAT A CHARACTER WANTS MORE THAN ANYTHING, GIVE IT TO THEM FIRST

If you want the reader to remain invested, it's always good to raise the stakes and make it seem like nothing is going to plan for the characters. One way to do this is to take away what they want most in the world. This example is going to spoil up to season two. What would be more heartbreaking: Buffy losing Angel as he turns back to Angelus because of some spell, or Angel going bat shit crazy only after he and Buffy finally get together and reach pure happiness. It's definitely the latter (except it isn't because Angel is nothing compared to Spike. Nothing, I tell you). It's sad if a character loses the thing they most desire, but if they get it after days/weeks/years of working hard to obtain it, it's devastating to see things fall apart. That's because both the character and the reader get to see what could've been if things were different.

VILLAINS ARE PEOPLE TOO

Does anyone else hate it when villains have no motive or purpose other than to be evil? In Buffy, the 'evil' characters have a reason to be so (except for that stupid Anointed One or whatever he's called), and even if they are evil it doesn't stop people loving them. Villains are characters too, and even if they're on opposite sides to the protagonist it doesn't mean that the reader can't like them, or if not at least understand them. Actually, it creates more conflict if the reader does like the villain. It's no secret that I'm kinda in love with a certain English vampire, but he's first introduced as someone who is completely and utterly evil. He's gambled for kittens and cheated. He's killed people and enjoyed it. He created a robot of the girl he was in love with for sex (gross gross gross *shudders*).Yet his characterisation goes so much deeper than his evilness, and after a few spoilery things he's no longer a boring villain, but a character I'm willing to root for despite his questionable motives. Besides, if you want your reader to hate the villain, they're going to do that more if they feel real, compared to a cardboard cut out bad guy complete with an evil cackle.

EVERY ACTION HAS CONSEQUENCES

This example is going to have spoilers. You've been warned. At the end of season five/beginning of season six, Buffy dies but is brought back to life by the Scoobies. Quite a few TV shows bring characters back from the dead, but very few actually explore the consequences of these actions. The effect of Buffy's resurrection was a huge part of the series, just as it should've been. Equally, when Spike tried to rape Buffy (before he got his soul back) it wasn't brushed over just because he's hot (on a separate note, abusive relationships are not okay no matter how gorgeous the guy is. So many YA books portray an unhealthy relationship as true love because he has abs of steel. Please stop doing this). It was dealt with properly, and whilst I personally think that Buffy did love Spike in season seven, she did not love him when he was soulless--no matter how much he changed--because rape is never excusable. It really pisses me off when something big happens to characters and the consequences aren't explored in enough detail. If you're writing something important, really ask yourself how they would react and how long it would affect your character for. As well as not annoying the reader, consequences make your characters and your plot feel richer. Everything has a price, be it magic or murder.

JUST KEEP WRITING AND IT'LL GET BETTER

The first season of Buffy is good, but it's nothing groundbreaking. The show is both sophisticated and silly, hilarious and serious--all the while being entertaining, honest, and heartbreaking. Based on the first season alone, I wouldn't be able to say all those things. The point I'm trying to make is that if you keep going with writing, it will only get better and better. Yes, just like there are not so good episodes there are bad writing days. There will even be setbacks, though I doubt anything could be as worse as nineties special effects. It takes practice and a lot of hard work, but in the end I promise your writing will be so much better if you just keep going.