A novice author’s torment
So here I sit, smoking a pipe while it’s raining outside, and say to myself “So you want to write something!?”
I want to be able and discuss this later with the only people I know to have the patience and interest to brainstorm something incomplete, unpolished and containing wild ideas I hope I am going to have – so it must be in English – well, OK
Who do I want to write about? Fantasy, I feel comfortable in fantasy and fairy tales in medieval, mythological settings, no modern times, no space age, no western
I need a character.
- a fighter? Zillions around, no original idea pops up
- a mage? Same, but I like magic (bookmark in back of my mind)
- a ranger? Potentially, I like generalists more than specialists (bookmark)
- a healer? Not my line
- a bard? Even less
I draw a blank
New start: what race?
- Human?
- Elven?
- Dwarf?
- Orc?
- Dragon?
- Any mix of the above? (bookmark)
The latter still is the most appealing, as the only experience I have is with a half-elven ranger, which I still like, but then it’s nothing new…
The pipe is burning down slowly, my eyes wander along the rows of books on my shelves, desperately seeking inspiration – what have we not had, or at least not so often?
…a book on mythology…a book on dogs…the medieval soldier…
Animals!? Have I ever read an animal protagonist? Actually yes, long time back – Ernest T. Seton, I believe. Could I write a creature? In a fantasy setting? Why – not?
Next pipe – what magical fantasy creatures do I know? Dragons of course, Pegasus, centaurs, Sphinx, unicorns, hippogriffs… - what combination would I like, what should it look like?
Two pipes, a night’s sleep, and another pipe later – a picture in my mind!
A thing always bothered me when reading NPC-creatures – they talked! OK, it’s fantasy, but how do you talk in humanoid language with an eagle’s beak, a carnivore’s fangs, or a dragon’s (whatever)? Irritating to me.
So what? How make it possible – “believable” – possibly by magic? Telepathy!? Yes!
But then I have a “sender”, how about “receiving”? Any- and everybody? No, too much. So only limited – someone who is unique somehow? A group? Any race?
And then – I need a new pipe – I have this picture of a creature, but how would it interact in a story with people, in civilized surroundings? How would these react to such a creature? A partner? A humanoid partner! But then I have two characters…
…so what? I can write one from the ego-perspective, and the other from a 3rd-person (or is it 2nd person?) perspective – interesting? (bookmark)
How shall I introduce my creature?
- Describe it at the start? Discard
- Have the humanoid find and describe it? Discard
- Introduce it somewhere later as a great surprise? Bookmark
- Build it up somehow? Bookmark
Another night’s sleep, uncounted pipes later, back to bookmarks:
The great surprise! – tempting…
But then, what comes before? General description, bringing the dual character together. THE BIG BANG! Suspense level average (hopefully), one great peak for effects – good as a film – in writing?
So – building it up. Slowly feeding pieces of information, inconspicuous at first as single items. In sum starting to irritate the reader. Making him wonder what this is, or whether the author is totally lost. I would like that – I will try that!
***
And such resulted, what you can read above (shortform!) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
