Crumpled Papers

Sometimes you just can't figure out what to do. And that's where I am right now. I have, so far, gone through five iterations of the same story, with the same characters, three of them in the past two weeks. Uggh. I just can't figure out a plotline that connects all the dots and keeps the story moving at the same pace all the way through. Merging two different plotlines together only compounded the problem, so I'm back to square one. And changing things to fix early problems only makes problems later on even bigger. I think I'm going to have to write out all the different parts I know I want in bubbles, then arrange and rearrange as I think, deleting what doesn't help, adding what is necessary, and maybe getting a second set of eyes to help me see what I'm probably blinding myself to. And deciding what my main themes are might helpful as well... :) Oh, well, I've got till November 1st to work it out. Then, literary abandon!!

Until next time (Hopefully tomorrow),

Farjag

Thor

Well, I saw Thor Saturday night, so I thought it would a good idea to do one of those movie reviews I've promised to do. Be warned, it's long reading. I'm wordy :P

First off, I liked the movie. "Wait, what?" you say? "No keeping us in suspense as to your eventual verdict?" Nah. If I start with "I liked it" then you won't confuse my critiques for criticisms.

So I'll start with what I didn't like, and then balance that with what I did like, so you can see why as a whole I like the movie.

Cons
1. Character Development
This is one of the main areas I thought the movie lacked (though not devoid, as you will see later). Several of the main characters were fairly static and 'unchanging' throughout the movie. Odin, for example. While his character didn't need to go through a huge change, it would have been nice to see some more of the conflict in his mind that sent him into his sleep. I just felt unprepared for something like that from him. But more importantly, I felt Thor himself didn't change enough. Or rather, his change seemed too sudden. The way I saw it; he was proud, realized his weakness when he couldn't pull out his own hammer, and then suddenly was sacrificing himself for others. I just think that could have been played up a little more. (More on this in the Pros section)

Putting the Epic in the Mundane

Who likes outlines?!

Not me. Not in the slightest. Imagine... having to write out every little detail of what happens in boring bullet points which make it sound like a history book instead of an epic novel full of exciting stuff! *stop for breath* For example, my first outline for Freeborn and Freegiven:

- The four freeborn meet up in Farjag’s home, Paelglade; Farjag is reluctant, Ogel is angry, Flashel is sardonic, and Nitiren remains silent.

- Farjag leaves to think, and is set upon by a Containment troop, and is nearly killed before a dark shape barrels through and rescues him.

- His rescuer is a shieldsfell named Rogchaen, who tells Farjag that he is a part of a outlaw band. Thoer came to them seeking help, but all refused save him. Rogchaen convinces Farjag to seek for the Darkstone.

-The five set out, Rogchaen guiding them to the Hope-chamber, renamed Arcpeak, by the Titan-mage.

I don't know about you... but doesn't seem all that exciting to me. And notice how the entire middle half of the book (the whole journey there, in fact) is conveniently glossed over in about half a sentence? That's my problem with outlining, I tend to leave out anything besides main plot points, which of course, makes for a very boring and regimented story. There's no subplots, not character development, no sense of what the story will feel like... etc.

So, I came up with my very own way of beating the Outline blues: *drumroll* 

The Story Planner

A New Character

Well, I spent the afternoon setting up the introduction of a new character to Feather and Fang, one who will have a key role in the chapters to come. I had fun writing it, hope you enjoying reading it just as much!

The Blue Beard had the best ale for miles, or so it many patrons swore. Be that as it may, its warmly-lit windows and spacious common room looked especially inviting on a night such as this. The stranger strode up the wooden steps that led to the abandoned porch, knocking his boots against the railing to rid them of most of their mud. Then, pulling his wide-brimmed hat down closer over his eyes, he entered the building.

It was fairly quiet at the moment, only a few folk were out of their homes on a night like this. The stranger looked around carefully, taking stock of the room and its occupants before choosing a table in a corner next to the stone fireplace and sitting down with his back to the wall.

On the far side of the large room sat a low bar, with a portly man sitting behind it, polishing spoons. There was an entrance to the kitchen behind the bar as well, and even though no one could be seen through it, snatches of laughter could be heard from time to time. Tonight business appeared slow.

The Hawk-assassin

Following up Redpaw's character backstory is his arch-enemy's, Crestlen, Hawk-assassin

Crestlen:

Born in the cliffside town of Burndell, Flamehope in the Year 93 after the Blood-Invasion, Crestlen’s mother died at birth and his father five years later in a shieldsfell brawl. Seeing his father cut down while defending another innocent bystander left a deep impression on Crestlen, and gave him an intense hatred of all things unjust. His ancestors had been bound in their human forms during the Containment, so no one know what exactly his parents bore as their creature forms, but when the Containment was broken, Crestlen took Hawk-flare as his surname. During the years between his father’s death and the Breaking, he worked as a stablehand for a farmer. His gentle hand and respect won him the esteem of all horse-kind in later years. 

It was also during this time that he became fast friends with the somewhat older Flashel, Phoenix-bolt. Both of their families had been killed by the shieldsfell, so they bore a common hatred against the reptilian race, and promised each other to fight back against the invaders some day. After Flashel returned to Burndell as one of the Four Freeborn, he took Crestlen under his wing, training him in the ways of the warrior and curing him of the stutter he had been afflicted with since birth. His iron will and brilliant mind quickly grasped everything Flashel taught him, and his prowess was noticed by the Featherwen faction of Flamehope’s leader, Haelswoop, Owl-prince. Haelswoop convinced Crestlen to join his personal retinue as a bodyguard and loyal assassin as the need presented itself. Crestlen agreed, despite Flashel’s vehement arguments against it. Their friendship was broken as a result. Crestlen quickly became one of the most feared warriors of the Featherwen faction, and accomplished several assassinations with remarkable ease. Fearing for his own safety, the Fanglen faction of Flamehope’s leader, Darazar, Wolverine-baron, hired Redpaw to hunt the famed assassin down.

Crestlen tends to dress rather flashy, with clothing designed to make very clear his profession and skill. He bears some dozen throwing daggers at various points around his body, along with two longer knives for hand-to-hand combat.

Quote: “What did it look like, furbrain?”

From Flat to Round

Well, I'll say it again, Redpaw and Crestlen (the main characters from my current story) were pretty flat. And it took me a bit to see it. Before I continue, though, I should explain what I mean by flat. Flat characters are one-dimensional, they don't change or do anything besides the one thing they're meant to do. A storekeeper who the main characters buy stuff from several times would probably be a flat character. He has character, but it doesn't change, and you don't see a lot of it. Round characters, the opposite, are characters that have depth, and change. You see into their minds, how they react etc. And neither Redpaw or Crestlen were doing that for me.

So now, I'm doing everything in my power to fix it. Step 1 was coming up with I call "descriptory word runs." By which I mean, "A long string of unconnected which help define and describe the character and essence of a character". So I did that. Step 2, something I haven't done before, was to create a backstory. For many of my earlier writing attempts a backstory wasn't necessary, since I started off my characters quite young, in other words, they hadn't had much time to have a backstory. And what backstory they needed I created as I went along. For Freeborn and Freegiven I hadn't made backstories, but they came out anyways as I wrote (which I'm really glad happened). At one point I even made references to something bad happening in the past between two characters, but I personally had no idea what it was. Not until later did it actually come out. (See? Writers don't always know every last detail of what's going on! :P ) Anyways, for Feather and Fang, Redpaw and Crestlen kinda need backstories. For one, they're older than most other characters I've written, so much more has gone on before the story opens. And for another, they are very good at what they do. So there has to be an explanation of how they got that good.