An Author’s Dilemma

Words or Images?

I don't want to choose just one. Why should authors in the digital age? A story can unfold across more than one medium. A novel can reflect upon a collection of photos; a video can lend further emotional insight into the written word. The stages in our lives aren’t easily siloed. And neither are works of creative fiction. At least, that's how I try to approach storytelling.

For the longest time I fought my sometimes opposing instincts: telling a story visually through filmmaking or "on paper" through fiction—even swapping majors in college once upon a time. While each medium does have its own unique elements, driving them both is a desire to communicate a feeling, a story or an idea. After all, aren’t they both born of the same inspiration or source? In the past, the rules didn't really give authors a choice, but modern technology is now allowing us to break through the old divisions. Vertical storytelling, weaving a narrative across platforms, is now an actual possibility.

When Tides Beyond Time--not the original title--first came to me as a concept, it presented me with a conflict. If written as a novel, would I even be able to describe the images in my head with words? On the flip side, was it technically possible to portray the action on film without a budget rivaling the GDP of Greenland? I sat on the story for years, letting it evolve, occasionally jotting down ideas on notecards and in the margins of notebooks. Eventually, my writer side won. It needed to be a novel. But I also couldn’t ignore my visual side.

During the writing process, and after, I felt the need to explore other aspects of the story, not necessarily through dramatizations of specific passages, but through new perspectives on the same underlying themes. Photography, video, and maybe even music could enhance the overall experience—for writer and reader. When readers lay down their books or screens, they’re not really leaving behind the characters. That world stays with them (sometimes even when they wish it wouldn’t). Booklovers shouldn’t have to enjoy their favorites in a kind-of closeted silence, while other mediums constantly dominate social media. Novels have a right to compete with other forms of entertainment in the online viral world. The novel has a right to evolve.

Up until the release of Tides Beyond Time, and after, between novels in the trilogy, I will continue sharing additional videos and photos here on this website. Free of spoilers, the selections will be perfectly fine for both potential readers and for those who just want to soak up the atmosphere. Although limited now, the collection will continue to grow, maybe even going places the book doesn't. Keep checking for updates. I look forward to you joining me on this voyage into a dimension of quantum fantasy.

-Daniel