I was reading tips from Donald Maas on Writer's Digest about firing up your fiction, and some of the questions he encourages you to ask are:
What in the world of your story makes you angry? The way people treat Fury makes me angry. The injustice of her situation--being scarred for a 'sin' she did not commit--makes me angry. The way people can use your own weaknesses against you makes me angry.
What is the most important question? Are the flawed redeemable?
What puzzle has no answer? Are we ever worthy of the ones who love us?
What is dangerous in this world? The obvious answer would be the Devourer, but she is so much more than that. The dangers are: self-hate, self-doubt, greed, anger, obsession, ambition, pride and unwillingness to forgive.
What causes pain? The misguided and, at times, thoughtless actions of those who are supposed to love us--including ourselves.
As you know, I've been in a love/hate relationship with FURY, but these answers made me remember what it was about the story that begged me to write it. Because it is so much MORE than what it seems to be. Even on the surface it's not your typical love story.
And my protagonists aren't the typical protagonists of a fantasy, either. Both Fury and Caden, the MCs, struggle with self-loathing and that often projects onto someone or something else. I recently read that heroes aren't supposed to have a lot of darkness in them. I disagree. Maybe it's because I have learned that the true heroes usually aren't the ones that are bright and shiny and made into action figures, but the ones that have real flaws--deep flaws--and are still redeemable. Maybe it won't work. Maybe everyone will hate my book. But I'm not going to change it.
They say write for your audience. Well, I guess I just have an audience of one. :) (Hopefully there are people out there who will want to read this anyway, however.)
I think a lot of writers write for the same reasons you mentioned: we want to make a point as well as to tell a story.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that I definitely am aware of as I'm writing my novel.
I don't know where you read that heroes aren't supposed to have a lot of darkness in them, but that is just plain wrong! Your MCs have to be real above all else.
I wouldn't worry too much about attracting an audience. You have a great story and your characters have real problems. People will relate to what you have created.
I've been wanting to check out Donald Maas's new book. Is that where those tips came from? (aside from being talked about on WD)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about characters. All of mine, in some way or another, are a piece of me, even the "bad guys."
I find, too, that a lot of my female characters struggle with children issues, as in, they aren't able to have any, or lost a child in some way, or struggle with feelings of inadequacy in motherhood. Yeah. That's definitely coming from deep within me (infertility, miscarriage, and my only son has a disability that I blame myself for, even though I know it's not my fault).
I've also noticed that the mothers of these women are horrific. Some underlying issues there, too, apparently. (Love you, mom! Really...)
As for heroes being too dark...no such thing. The darker, the better. And more believable. As long as the reader can see the good in that character, even if the character can't see it, they have something to root for.
Thanks, Emily and Lydia. I'm glad you can agree with me.
ReplyDeleteThe article that I read about "making good guys good" was on Writers Digest, too. It thoroughly depressed me, because sometimes I forget that the most important opinion is my own and let things I read from the "experts" influence me, even if I disagree.
I'm always more drawn to the darker heroes in things I read and in movies I watch. I like complications and "real-world" problems. And I guess I'm not alone in that.
And Lydia, I can totally relate to the parental issues. I grew up without a father figure. My biological father was in and out of prison my whole life and my step-dad is very distant and not the most supportive of people. So FURY addresses some issues along those lines, too.
I guess it's a good thing we take bits ourselves and our experiences to flesh out a novel--it will always relate to somebody. :)
As Harry Dent said in Batman, "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Very true statement. every knight in shining armor will have a dent in his armor, a blemish, a scratch, and if he doesn't, well, he truly has not experienced battle and how would he conquer the monster to save the princess?
ReplyDeleteMany of us have done things that we are not prod of, our blemishes, our scratches, but with them, we now know how to handle ourselves in "battle" so to speak.
As for your writing, perhaps writing this is your way of finding closure for your past. You seem to have this dark cloud hanging over you, and as most of us are, we are unable to tell the tale of our past because of our embarrassment, or our shame, even though sometimes it is not ours to bear. So through you writing, you can gain insight, and understanding into that, and the praise your book or story receives is praise unto you for being strong enough to survive the situation.
I know my armor is certainly got more nicks, scratches, and blemishes than it should, but I was reckless at a younger age, with my career, my life, and both with my own heart and others. That's why I use the online name I do. Latin for Man of Regret.
We often can't control things, even simple ones, we will make mistakes, often costly ones, and things quite possibly will end up the way we never anticipated. But hey, just take that next step, that next breathe, and eventually, even if you don't like it, you realize, your living with it.
So, as I see it, just take a leaf out of Fury's Story/Your Life. She is living with it all, right? Your living with it all, right?
Wait, you don't kill her at the end of the book right? Cuz that would totally negate everything I just said.