IN CONVERSATION: HELEN MCCARTHY

(2 of 3)

RJ: It’s very clear that Western animation is often inspired by Anime – however it seems to be very rare they capture those quiet moments that Eastern animations do so well. Why do you think this is?

HM: We rush too much. Everything has to be new and now. We’ve almost abandoned the contemplative mode in favour of a lifestyle where it’s the in thing to have no time for thought and reflection, which is absolutely stupid. The number of people who say they don’t have time to read a book is very disturbing. I hope that new media platforms are going to build a bridge for those people to find the joy of really getting involved with a story and characters, rather than steering them towards peripheral soundbite distractions.

RJ: The world is certainly spinning a great deal faster. Everyone wants things NOW, at the touch of a button – and unfortunately the downside of the internet is that it has pulled away from tradition. When I set projects for students it can be (sadly) a very hard thing to have them find a book, let alone read it. Their idea of research is pressing print while browsing Wikipedia, which to me is by no means finding the answer.

One of the aims of Erth Chronicles has always been to try and latch onto those who are interested and wish to be involved in a project that does require you to read the details. Erth was born and continues to be nurtured in my writing and further visualised by myself and other artists. Yes there’s a novel awaiting publication – but I see more longevity in using my other skills to push the story as far as I can. The internet is perfect for this.

HM: How has the world of Erth grown for you from the first germ of the story?

RJ: It’s been inspired by events in my life and feelings that have almost been forgotten due to how much the story and characters have taken hold. I have found many times that while the plot is fleshed out and you write a draft, you discover that every character is there to serve a purpose and that a scenario may indeed give birth to a new character.
The more people that invest their time in Erth, the more responsibility I feel in making sure these characters arrive at their destination and that all their questions are answered. Erth is only the platform, the stage to act out many stories – and although there are many to tell, Pirian’s is the most relevant. Plot and structure are extremely important to me and in many ways is probably stronger than my writing. I have three books planned, the whole trilogy mapped out so I know where it is leading and have no intention to lose people within the harsh realms of Erth.

RJ: Other than receiving the support and encouragement you needed to pursue writing about Miyazaki – what else drew you towards writing your own book?

HM: I wrote my first books because there wasn’t a single anime book in English before that. When I was trying to find out more about it, it just seemed wrong that this fabulous material was unknown in my country because almost nobody who spoke English had written about it. It took me a long while to get to the position of being able to write a book, and longer to write about a single director, Miyazaki, and even longer to write the book I wanted to read when I started out as a fan, which was The Anime Encyclopedia. I suppose what drove me on through that process was sheer bloody-mindedness. I was going to spread the word about anime, whatever it took. I think all creators have to have a real determination to keep going and get their idea across, which is the process you're starting now with Erth Chronicles. You may spend a long time working with the website and involving other artists and writers, before getting any kind of commercial attention, yet I’m guessing that doesn’t put you off.

RJ: Not in the slightest - this is something I believe in and have lived with way too long not to do something with. I think if any creator shows a passion for something they will attract likeminded people. To be paid for your passion is a bonus – in my opinion money should never drive a creative venture. If at the end of the day a personal project has been nothing more than therapy and helped you grow in some way – then I can live with that.

For me, research is an integral part of the development process. Do you feel that we often explore and write things out of our system to fully understand ourselves as much as the subject matter?

HM: That’s an interesting idea. I hadn’t really thought of it as an effective way to resolve issues before. I can see the joys of role play – there are many times I’ve written situations in the real world with satisfactorily revised endings! But often I think one’s too close to one’s own experiences to write them out - at least for some time after they’ve happened The experiences we observe in others are much easier to dissect. The reason why the hero’s journey is such a lasting archetypal myth is that we all see ourselves on that journey at some time in our lives, and look back at legends for inspiration in dealing with it. You must have had that in your mind when you started building your story here.

RJ: Indeed. The hero’s journey is very much a universal theme and the perfect platform to explore ideas in this magnitude. If you’re beginning a journey in writing a first novel, what better guide would you need? Themes, symbolism and cultural reference are a perfect grounding to explore and reflect not just your own experiences, but that of the audience you will one day reach.

The world of Erth could be seen as a reflection of the current climate; from Iraq to concerns for the environment. Yet, there are also subtle reflections on the Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment period. Do you feel visual metaphors are an important device in storytelling to break down cultural barriers?

HM: Well, I always have in mind that wonderful quote, that ‘those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it’. We see the truth of that on the news every evening. But as far as metaphors and breaking down cultural barriers go, it depends on the metaphor and whether it’s couched in terms the culture can understand. If your metaphor is very culture-specific it will disbar anyone without the same set of cultural experiences, and of course experiences can be interpreted very differently depending whether you’re on the side that comes out on top or the one that doesn’t. We didn’t behave in a very enlightened way to many other cultures during the Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution broke an awful lot of quite lovely eggs to make its allegedly better omelette. Where you position yourself as an author is always a tough call – how far are you going to let your views intrude into the story? How far is it possible to keep them out? Are you writing to push a particular point of view or conclusion, and how far do you let that interfere with the storytelling process?

I suppose what really concerns me in much modern storytelling (and politics) is that it’s easy to take a standpoint where some things are good and some bad, and assign moral weight to the deeds or things themselves, and to everyone who doesn’t agree with your views. I really do prefer the Miyazaki method of storytelling, where some characters may look nicer than others, but even the ones doing stupid or wicked things have their own reasons, their own stories, and are just trying to get by as best they can by their own standards. It’s okay to let your characters judge and condemn but I don’t think it’s a productive worldview for an author, and the lessons of Miyazaki’s work are always in my mind as I write fiction.

RJ: I agree. The cultures within my world and individual characters have their own stories that shine entirely different lights onto any given situation – especially in the later books. There is good and bad in everything, some of which is influenced or controlled. What truly gives birth to good and evil is far more complex than black and white. The shades of grey are exactly what Erth Chronicles explores. The Enemy’s Son deals with and sets up these themes for the rest of the story. Quite often it is an internal struggle, but it is the internal struggle that has the potential to save the whole of humanity, which leads to the universal themes similar to what Miyazaki explores. What we do to our planet, we do to ourselves.

Continued in Part 3

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