Jesse Koepke

Hey, been a while. Sorry about that. I’ve been doing a little bit of writing, but been focusing on other stuff for a while. Oh, I know what it was: I went to Montana the last week/first week of February/March, and I haven’t written on here since then. That’s what happened. Man, those trips, I tell ya. Especially to the mountains. Mm, mountains….

I finished a book last week by Stephen R. Lawhead (one of my favorite authors) called Byzantium, and I was reminded again of how good of a book it is. Not quite the scope of Dickens’ David Copperfield (which is a masterpiece), but similar in that it tracks three years of a character’s life and shows you how he progresses – or rather DIgresses from faith to anger at God. What was great to rediscover (I read it a few years ago) was the ANSWER Lawhead gives at the end.

That’s what I think it comes down to: the answer. As I try to figure out how to rightly, Godly tell stories that point people to Jesus, I’ve come to think that the real issue is what answer are you giving the audience? So the world ends in Roland Emmerich’s 2012, what answer does he give? WHAT’S THE SOLUTION? In 2012, it was the strength of humanity to overcome and perform impossible feats and also the goodness of mankind to help each other that saves the day. But that is false. The only answer can possibly be Jesus, and I want the stories that I tell to reflect that.

Ha, reflect. That’s the key thing, right there. “A mirror dimly”…. I want to reflect the truth and glory of God. I want to give people the right answers. THERE IS HOPE: Jesus.

What I forgot about in Byzantium was the full extent of the answer. In the end the main character, Aidan, realizes that God knows all that has happened to him. He wasn’t far off and ignoring him; he knew what Aidan was going through, and that turns Aidan back to him. But I forgot the most important part: it’s not just that Jesus knows, but that HE SUFFERED JUST AS WE DO.

“Surely, this is the heart of the great mystery: that God became man, shouldering the weight of suffering so that on the final day none could say, ‘Who are you to judge the world? WHat do you know of injustice? What do you know of torture, sickness, poverty? How dare you call yourself a righteous God! What do you know of death?’ He knows. He knows!”

The answer is that I can have and hold onto hope even in the midst of the worst suffering, because Christ suffered too! CHRIST BECAME MAN and walked on this earth and suffered just as we do! And now that he sits at the right hand of the Father, we know that we have an advocate before the throne of God. Think of it! I have an advocate before the very throne of God Almighty who KNOWS MY SUFFERING! He knows intimately my every struggle and tension! No temptation comes before me that is not unknown to Him!

What God is this that knows me so?

THAT’S the answer people need to know. People need to know that there is hope. Oh the world longs and hungers for hope! Not a wish, but HOPE, a confident assurance and looking forward to what is coming. I read the screenplay for The Mist a while ago, and the solution in the end was that there was no hope. Oh! The world cries for hope!

And by the grace of God, I want to reflect his hope to a desperate world.

The draw of the west is a tangible thing / That rolls in my blood and keeps my eye turned / T’ward those royal sunsets of purple and gold / And clear mountain air for which I still yearn

My feet long to walk in those green and brown woods / To happ’ly traverse soft needle and earth / The sway of the pines, the expanse of the sky / These my heart loves in that place of my birth

Now my bed lies a long way from there, from the / Mountains and valleys and all that I know / But now I have seen that this draw of the west / Is stamped upon me, and never will go.

I wrote a rough draft of this the other night before bed, and today in the prayer room I finished it up. It was fun to not only try and capture that great thing about the west (which, when you think about it, needs to be more specific. America’s west is entirely different than Europe’s west. It’s something specific to the American psyche and our history, and something that makes this poem not universal. Perhaps not an important distinction, but a distinction nonetheless), but also to work on the rhythm of the stanzas.

I counted out the syllables for each line and made sure that they were consistent throughout the poem. The beat count goes 11, 10, 11, 10. Some lines were too long, so I had to figure out how to shorten them; others were too short, so I had to find the right words to get the right number of syllables. An example of this is in the first line of the third stanza: it’s why the line ends with “from the”, because that line had 9 beats while the second line had 12. By moving “from the” up to the first line, I preserve my beat scheme. That rhythm is the cool thing about poetry, I think, that prose somewhat lacks (prose can still have  a rhythm to it, most certainly). It was fun to work with the language to stay in sync with that beat.

It’s also fun that this was the first poem I wrote in 2010. Fitting, I think : )

I’ve discovered a new author: Robin McKinley. She’s fantastic. I’m about done with The Blue Sword (started it about three days ago), and it’s fantastic. I went to bed last night soaked with words. And it was then that I began to think how much more enjoyable it is to travel through worlds in books than in movies. James Cameron’s Avatar is fun and enjoyable, but if you REALLY want to experience a different world, a world fully formed with language and fauna and animals, a world with real people, you must read. I’ve been to Middle-Earth and Narnia, Damar and Perelandra; I’ve walked thousands of miles and seen hundreds of animals. As I went to bed last night I thought of the places I’ve been, worlds that I have almost, just almost, literally walked in. And that is much more enjoyable than watching someone else do it on a movie screen.

I could spend all day watching a screen / And have someone else imagine for me / But I’d rather visit a thousand worlds / Through books in mind’s eye, inwardly.

Read. And then read some more.

I wrote stuff during January, I promise. Just not on here : ) I also went a screenwriting class that Act One put on here at IHOP; a two-day seminar that was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, it was one of the best things I’ve ever gone to, I think because it was an application of everything I’ve been looking at over the last few months about Story and how I should tell them as a son of God. So it was excellent to hear how they as Christians do it, and it helped remind me of and give me more practical things to do while writing.

I’m working on a few things, all in different areas of storytelling:

1) prodigal miner script. I had some great notes about this yesterday. I want to keep the story moving, so taking a cue from Pride and Prejudice (2005) I want to have a new decision come up every fifteen minutes. Thus, a couple of days ago I sat down and wrote out the seven decisions I want my main character to make, and THAT was the best thing I’ve done so far. I actually came up with seven great things that drive him and the story forward, and that vague, illusive Act 2 filled out and had some substance to it.  My next step will be to fill out a rough beat sheet and then get to writing.

2) He Loves Me script. This is a short film that I’m working on with a friend here at IHOP. I think we’re getting close to a final draft, so hopefully we’ll be able to start making it soon!

3) The Wall. I hadn’t touched this for a while, but for some reason I’ve been having thoughts about it lately, and I think I’m going to pick it back up. I had some really good thoughts about it the other day, stuff that will help with character and story. I think I’m going to try and put together a bible for it and get Pat and Beka to help do some writing. It’ll be a good project to collaborate on, I think. Really excited about it.

4) Seskone. I read A Wrinkle in Time by Madaleine L’engle in January, and I realized that a kid’s novel doesn’t have to be long and epic. It can be a simple story told in 200 pages, probably around 40-50,000 words. I can totally do that with Seskone. So even though I haven’t sat down and written anymore (still stuck with the underwater stuff), I want to push ahead with it.

5) Various short stories, including The Child-Weaver. I want to continue to write small stories, such as a story about the Child-Weaver (I think part of my deliverance in realizing the Father’s love will come through writing this). So it’ll be something I just keep pushing forward with.

Additionally, I’m going to read scripts. I’ve read two already, and I think continuing to do so will help me get a sense for the timing and style of screenplays. If I wanted to write a novel, I’d read lots of books, right? Same applies to scripts.

So, busy times. Good to have something to keep me busy. I think the key is being faithful in what is right before me, stuff I can actually do right now with my current resources. I think you falter when you spend all your time dreaming about epic movies but never doing anything to practically get there. So. Keep on keepin’ on, stay faithful, and pray for strength. “Help me, God!”

Oh, two last things: I turn 25 tomorrow, and I ordered Reclaiming the Blade. Woo-hoo!!

Hello, 2010!

Just wanted to post something quick, since it’s a new year and all. Not sure what I’ll be working on writing-wise this year, but one thing’s for sure: I gotta keep that sword to the grindstone.

I have an idea for a couple of short stories (the Child-Weaver, and Whenton), so hopefully those will get done. The Child-Weaver is something I thought of while writing Seskone, so hopefully I’ll get that out.

Speaking of Seskone, will I continue? I would like to. This happens to me every once in a while, where I get going on a project and then reach a roadblock, either of my own ignorance of a subject (under water in Seskone) or I don’t quite know how to go on (The Wall comic series). I hope to keep going with Seskone (and The Wall, for that matter), but we’ll have to see.

I also have a goal of finishing a screenplay this year. I just gotta! Maybe the prodigal miner, or perhaps Gunslinger, or maybe even (gasp) Alden. The point is, I need to press ahead and stop writing notes.

Oh! Just remembered a big change I’m going to do. The past five years I’ve been making outlines and writing notes and trying to figure out the story before I start writing. But when have I ever done that?! I’ve never written a story like that! Everything I’ve written has been based off of an image or a scene to which I knew I wanted to get. Why aren’t I writing screenplays like that?! I’ve said it’s because I can’t flow as easily with the screenplay format, like I can with prose, but after five years I kind of feel confident that I can. So I think I’m going to give that a try. Stop worrying about outlines, stop worrying about an act turn at thirty pages, and just write.

Just write.

One other thing I need to get: Reclaiming the Blade. Indeed.

Well, happy 2010. We’ll see what happens. Lead on, Jesus!