As the series develops, I'm getting a better idea for what needs to happen in order to complete it, areas where the story arc is well filled-in and areas where more needs to be written. That also helps reveal what the major turning points are; those will be good spots for illustration.
In a Western-style story, the major points are often based on external action, whereas in an Eastern-style story they are often internal realizations. That can be challenging to illustrate -- which is why Eastern art has its own set of symbolism, useful for cluing the internal action. That's pretty cool to play with. When I'm writing the poems, I often look up references on symbolism so that the descriptions will highlight the internal action, if you know the connections. So I was really pleased to hear from an artist that this tends to create strong visual images in the poetry.
Re: Yes...
As the series develops, I'm getting a better idea for what needs to happen in order to complete it, areas where the story arc is well filled-in and areas where more needs to be written. That also helps reveal what the major turning points are; those will be good spots for illustration.
In a Western-style story, the major points are often based on external action, whereas in an Eastern-style story they are often internal realizations. That can be challenging to illustrate -- which is why Eastern art has its own set of symbolism, useful for cluing the internal action. That's pretty cool to play with. When I'm writing the poems, I often look up references on symbolism so that the descriptions will highlight the internal action, if you know the connections. So I was really pleased to hear from an artist that this tends to create strong visual images in the poetry.