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August 7, 2023 · 6:00 am

Dark energy—villainous motivation #amwriting

One character archetype essential to any tale is the villain. Yet, despite being crucial to the story, this character is often less developed and two-dimensional.

WritersjourneysmallIn his book, The Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers, Christopher Vogler discusses how the villain of a piece represents the shadow. The enemy injects the narrative with the momentum of dark energy, powering the plot.

Some of the best narratives I’ve read feature the antagonist as the protagonist. We want to see them succeed, yet we fear they will and know it can’t end well. This tension creates a memorable narrative.

One novel that stuck with me was Grunts! by Mary Gentle. She features the orcs as the protagonists, and one feels a great deal of sympathy for the devil.

From Wikipedia:

Grunts! (1992) is a satiric fantasy novel by British writer Mary Gentle. It is set in a basic fantasy world taken from the usual The Lord of the Rings mould, with orcs and elves using magic and typical medieval weaponry, but it plays heavily on black comedy and strong doses of violence and graphic description, frequently depicting scenes “over the top.”

Grunts!The story follows a group of orcs who always find themselves on the front lines of battle against the carefully prepared and always triumphant forces of good. The orcs decided to organize themselves and fight back. As a satire of high fantasy the novel mocks most of the conventions of the genre from using traditional villainous races, orcs, as the protagonists, to having the noble characters have much less than noble motivations and secrets.

The opening of the book plays up the orc warleader sent to reclaim a weapons cache in preparation for the ‘Last Battle’ between good and evil, which is well on its way. They are assisted by a pair of halflings whose cute demeanor is contrasted with extremely violent acts. [1]

In any narrative, the shadow provides opportunities for contrast. Whether a person, a creature, or a natural disaster, the antagonist represents darkness (evil), against which light (good) is shown more clearly. Also, the shadow, whether a person, place, or thing, provides the roadblocks, the reason the protagonist must struggle.

Large predatory animals will be aggressive toward humans because hunters need a large habitat and hefty prey. They are unpredictable and will attack when we enter what they see as their territory. This is plot-fodder for many a scary horror novel.

Storms and natural disasters make perfect antagonists. Everyone loves a good disaster novel or movie because when nature throws a tantrum, it’s terrifying and deadly. People love nothing more than tales of humanity surviving and overcoming the worst that nature can do.

Animals and natural disasters are straightforward antagonists with little room for backstory.

WoT03_TheDragonRebornHowever, when the antagonist is a person, I ask myself, why this person opposes the protagonist? What drives them to create the roadblocks they do? Why do they feel justified in doing so?

Perhaps you are writing a memoir. Who or what is the antagonist? After all, memoirs are written to shed light on the difficulties the author has overcome, so who or what frustrated your efforts? In some autobiographies, it is a parent or guardian. Other times it is society, the standards and values we impose on those who don’t fit into the slots designated for them.

For many novels, the enemy is the protagonist’s inhibitions and self-doubt.

In others, the two main characters have a sharply defined good versus evil chemistry. (Trust me, the antagonist is a main character, or the hero has nothing to struggle against.)

The struggle makes the story. The characters on both sides of the battle must recognize and confront the darkness within themselves. They must choose their own path—will they fight to uphold the light? Or will they take the easier way, following the shadow?

When the protagonist must face and overcome the shadow on a profoundly personal level, they are placed in true danger. The reader knows that if the hero strays from the light, they will unknowingly offer up their soul.

The best shadow characters are shown to have many layers, and not all of them are bad. They are charismatic because we can relate to their struggle. We may hope events will change them for the better but know in our hearts they won’t.

Characters portrayed as evil for the sake of drama can be cartoonish. Logic must support their actions, or the villain is not believable.

The most fearsome villains have deep stories. Yes, they may have begun life as unpleasant children and may even be sociopaths. Something started them down that path, reinforcing their logical reasons for what we consider villainy.

Speculative fiction has a trap waiting to snare the unwary writer. When the plot centers around the pursuit of a desired object, authors spend enormous amounts of time working on all the supporting reasons for the quest. They give the hero firm, logical reasons for struggling to acquire the Golden McGuffin.

Where some fantasies fail is in depicting the enemy. The villain must also have a plausible explanation for going to the lengths they do to thwart our heroes.

A mere desire for power is NOT a good or logical reason unless it has roots in the enemy’s past. Why does Voldemort desire that power? What fundamental insecurity drives them to acquire absolute control over every aspect of their life and to exert control over the lives of their minions?

LarrysPostRapturePetSittingService_EllenKingRiceWe must remember that the characters in our stories don’t go through their events and trials alone. We drag the reader along for the ride the moment we begin writing the story. They need to know why they’re in that handbasket and where the enemy thinks they’re going, or the narrative will make no sense.

Ask yourself a few questions:

  • What made your villain turn to the darkness?
  • What events gave them the strength and courage to rise above the past, twisted though they are?
  • What is the void that drives their agenda?
  • What do they hope to achieve?
  • Why do they believe achieving their goal will resolve the wrongs they’ve suffered?

None of this backstory needs to be dumped into the narrative. It should emerge in tantalizing bits and hints as the plot progresses and conversations happen.

We must make the hero’s ultimate victory evoke emotion in the reader. But we also want them to think about the dilemmas the characters have faced.

The villains we write into our stories represent humanity’s darker side, whether they are a person, a dangerous animal, or a natural disaster. They bring ethical and moral quandaries to the story, offering food for thought long after the story has ended.

Credits and Attributions:

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Grunts!,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grunts!&oldid=1117040155 (accessed August 6, 2023).

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July 31, 2023 · 6:00 am

Plotting alternate history #amwriting

A few years ago, about ten minutes into a NaNoWriMo write-in, I accepted a dare to write an Arthurian tale with a steampunk twist.

MyWritingLife2021I quickly regretted that decision.

Everyone was quietly typing away in that coffee shop, getting impressive word counts.

But not me.

I sat there asking myself where Arthurian and steampunk connect well enough to make a story. On the surface, they don’t. I experienced the mental blankness we all feel when a story refuses to reveal itself.

220px-Sir_Galahad_(Watts)Arthur and his court originated as ordinary 5th or 6th-century warlords. But the tales featuring them were written centuries later. Their 11th-century chroniclers presented them in contemporary armor as worn by Crusaders and with medieval customs and moral values.

Over the centuries, subsequent authors continued to romanticize the story but with their own twist. Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King reworked the entire narrative of Arthur’s life to fit the romantic ideals of the Victorian era.

When I agreed to the challenge, I decided my protagonists must be real people, flesh and blood. They would be subject to the same emotions and physical needs as any other person.

Galahad is traditionally portrayed as a knight errant, which means wandering. The knight-errant was a popular character in medieval romance literature. Miguel de Cervantes‘ mad knight, Don Quixote, believed he was a knight errant and lived his fantasy with hilarious abandon.

Wilhelm_Marstrand,_Don_Quixote_og_Sancho_Panza_ved_en_skillevej,_uden_datering_(efter_1847),_0119NMK,_Nivaagaards_Malerisamling

Wilhelm Marstrand, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (after 1847) via Wikimedia Commons

The Chivalric Code was a system of values combining a warrior culture, devotion to the Christian faith, and courtly manners. Adherence to the code of chivalry ensured a knight epitomized bravery, honor, and nobility.

They roamed the land looking for heroic tasks, engaged in knightly duels, or went in pursuit of courtly love. The medieval romance of highly ritualized courtly love was a rigid literary structure. It defined the written behaviors of noble ladies and their lovers and was woven with the principles of chivalry.

Medieval and Victorian authors loved superheroes. To them, nothing was more impossible or super-heroic than a man who lived a virtuous and self-sacrificing life.

I randomly picked an Arthurian knight, Galahad, and began making notes as I pondered the problem. What kind of a person might Galahad have been had he truly existed?

The established canon dictates that Galahad isn’t attracted to women. He goes on quests to find strange and magical objects, such as the Holy Grail. Since he’s not attracted to women, how about men? I asked myself, what if Galahad and Gawain were lovers?

And what really happened after the Grail was found? With no answer to that, I moved on to the next question. Where does steampunk come into the story? Steampunk is science fiction set in Edwardian times using only technology available during the reign of King Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910.

Thinking about what steampunk really is triggered the cascade of plot points:

What if finding the Grail somehow opened a door in time?

What if all the magic in the world vanished with the Grail?

What if Galahad was marooned in Edwardian England with Merlin?

How would Galahad get back to Gawain?

I sat in the coffee shop with my friends, all of them writing their novels. The November rains pounded on the windows and drowned passers-by, but I didn’t care—I had the plot I needed.

Julian Lackland Cover 2019 copyI am an abject fangirl for Don Quixote, so different versions of both Galahad and Quixote appear regularly in my work. Julian Lackland was inspired by my love of Don Quixote. they’re both insane, both deeply committed to doing good, and both have moments of hilarity mixed with the tragedy.

And Galahad–nowadays he’s considered a minor knight. However, what we regard as canon about him is taken from Sir Thomas Malory’s 1485 work, Le Morte d’Arthur, in which he and his quest have a prominent role.

Malory’s collection was a reworking of traditional tales that were hundreds of years old, even in his day. Also, he wrote it while in prison for a multitude of crimes, so we can be sure it’s not historically accurate.

Traditionally, Galahad is an illegitimate son of Lancelot du Lac. He goes on the quest to find the Holy Grail and immediately goes to heaven, raptured as a virgin.

When I began plotting the tale my friend had challenged me to write, I wondered why Malory said Galahad was raptured. Why was the notion of a virgin knight and being taken to heaven before death so important to medieval chroniclers? Why would they write a saint’s virginity and rapture as though it were factual recorded history?

People always rewrite history to suit the times in which they live.

Religion and belief in the Christian truths espoused by the Church were in the very air the people of the time breathed. All the physical and material things of this world were entwined and explained by the religious beliefs of the day.

Excalibur London_Film_Museum_ via Wikipedia

Excalibur London_Film_Museum_ via Wikipedia

Literature in those days was filled with religious allegories, the most popular of which were the virginity and holiness of the Saints, especially those deemed holy enough to be raptured.

Death was the common enemy, an inescapable event kings feared as much as beggars did. Those saints who were raptured did not experience death. Instead, they were raised to heaven, living in God’s presence for all eternity.

Galahad as written by Malory and later authors never married. But humans tend to be human, so why assume he was a virgin? Galahad’s state of virginity and grace was written to exemplify what all good noblemen should aspire to.

The High Middle Ages was the period of European history that commenced around the 10th century and lasted until the 14th century (or so). That era saw a flowering of historical-fantasy writing among the clergy and educated nobility. Medieval chroniclers detailed the people and events of 300 to 400 years prior. Their sources were the oral histories as told in well-known bardic tales and local legends.

Malory was writing during the final decades of the Crusades and trying to fit the old stories into his modern time. Rumors and stories passed down became historical truths, reshaped to justify the desire for conquest. After all, the New World was just over the horizon, vast cities of Inca gold ripe for the taking.

We 21st-century authors have excellent records of 15th and 16th-century political struggles. Yet, we make things up about the Tudors and Elizabethans, because they were interesting people. We love to imagine what they must have been like.

We all know the written records from before the time of Elizabeth I are highly questionable. Sifting medieval fact from fiction is the life’s work of many historical scholars. However, they’re entertaining fantasy reads, leaving fangirls like me free to riff on them and create our own mythologies.

So, that is how my creative process works. Someone gives me an impossible idea, and I fight with it until it beats me. Once that idea has me by the throat, I know what has to be written. That tale became a short story, Galahad Hawke.

Bleakbourne front Cover medallion and dragon copyAnd sometimes a theme refuses to let go of me. I took Arthurian myth and the chivalric code and turned them inside out with the characters of Lancelyn and Galahad in Bleakbourne on Heath.

I feel quite sure I haven’t written my last Alternate Arthurian tale. Galahad Hawke may get an expansion into a novel–after all, he didn’t get the traditional happy ending.

Or maybe not. I do have an epic fantasy on deck so … maybe next year.

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July 24, 2023 · 6:00 am

The Business of Writing – Lessons I’ve Learned #amwriting

I have always thought of myself as a writer. Unfortunately, for about forty years I didn’t know how to write anything longer than a poem or a song. I wrote hundreds of poems and songs and sang them to my children, went to open mics, and performed in various bands.

MyWritingLife2021During the 1980s and 90s, I listened to music on the stereo, writing my thoughts and ideas in a notebook while my kids did their homework. I drew dragons and fantasy landscapes and worked three part-time jobs to pay the bills.

My pen and ink ramblings weren’t writing as I see it now. However, they were frameworks containing ideas that later became full-fledged stories. In 1987, my father bought me a secondhand IBM Selectric Typewriter, and my writing addiction took off. My typewriter sat beside the hamster cage in the kitchen—not a wise placement choice—and while my kids did homework, I pecked away at short stories.

One of those frameworks evolved into a proto-novel in 1994 when we were given a secondhand Apple Macintosh Performa, and I began writing a novel. Five years and 225,000 words later (including a switch to a Windows 98 PC), I realized I had a mess on my hands that would never be finished.

I didn’t know what to do with it.

Markers 1090px-Caran_d'Ache_FilzstifteFor most of my writing life, I was like a toddler given a package of magic markers and told to go wild. My enthusiasm exceeded my ability.

  • I didn’t have the information I needed to make my work readable or know how to get it.
  • I felt embarrassed for even thinking that I could be an author.

One day in 1990, I stumbled upon a book offered in the Science Fiction Book Club catalog: How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. The day that book arrived in my mailbox changed my life. Since acquiring that book, I have amassed a library of books on the craft. Some are brilliant, some not so much, but I always learn something from them.

Personal experience, good and bad, is a great teacher. So, here are a few things I wish I had known in 2010 when I stumbled upon NaNoWriMo and began this journey in earnest:

One: Make a style sheet (also known as a storyboard or bible) as you go.

rudimentary stylesheetBuild a glossary of words and spellings unique to your story, and be sure to list names. I use an Excel spreadsheet, but you can use anything you like to help you stay consistent in your spelling.

And even though I think I am developing a thorough glossary, my editor will find many words to add to it.

Two: Develop a logical, consistent system for naming your files. Save your document regularly.

Save each version of your manuscript in its own master file, and give each subfile a different name so you can go back and retrieve bits you may need later. I use a system like this:

  • fileFolderThe master file might be titled: Lenns_Story
  • The subfile might be: L_S_V5.docx

That stands for Lenn’s Story version five. I work out of Word, so the extension is automatically a docx. Each master file will contain many subfiles before a story or book is published.

Three: Find a local group of writers to meet with and talk about the craft.

Authors need to network with other authors because we need to discuss the craft with someone whose eyes don’t glaze over.

ICountMyself-FriendsI gained a fantastic local group through attending write-ins for NaNoWriMo, the Tuesday Morning Rebel Writers. Since the pandemic, and with several of our members now on the opposite side of Washington State, we meet weekly via Zoom. We are a group of authors writing in a wide variety of genres.

We’re like midwives, helping each other bring new books into the world through beta reading and critiquing. But more than that, we are good, close friends who help each other through life’s twists and turns.

Four: Never stop educating yourself. It requires dedication and a small investment of money, but you can do it.

Learn how to say what you mean with your unique voice and style. A college education may be out of reach, but you can buy books on grammar, style, substance, and writing craft.

Wendig_Damn_Fine_StoryLearn about structure and pacing from successful authors. Spend the money to go to conventions and attend seminars. You will learn so much about the craft of writing, the genre you write in, and the publishing industry as a whole—things you can only learn from other authors. I gained an extended professional network by joining The Pacific Northwest Writers Association and attending their conferences.

Five: Don’t even consider signing with the slick-talking publisher that contacts you out of the blue.

In 2010 I made my word count and became a firm believer in the principles behind NaNoWriMo. If you sit down and write at least 1,667 words every day, you will complete your novel.

I didn’t know that while a novel might have the complete story arc, it isn’t finished.

orson_scott_card_write_scifi_fantasyThe year that followed was filled with mistakes and struggles. Legitimate publishers NEVER contact you. You must submit your work to them, and they prefer to work with agented authors.

I, of course, didn’t know this. There were some low points and a devastating falling out with my first publisher. Ultimately, I retained the rights to my work. After years of revisions, I did finally bring that novel back to a new life in 2020. But that is another story.

Ask yourself this: how can a publisher possibly want work they haven’t seen? And how did they get your email address?

Make use of SFWA’s Writer Beware site. You won’t benefit from the predator publisher’s “services,” but they will profit from your desperation to be published. They will charge you for services they don’t provide and publish your work in its raw, unedited form, and you will never see a dime.

Six: even though you’re writing that novel, keep writing short stories too.

Lascaux 2015Short stories and micro fiction are a training ground, a way to hone your skills. They’re also the best way to get your name out there. I suggest you build a backlog of work from 100 to 5,000 words in length. Keep them ready to submit to magazines, anthologies, and contests.

Every scene and vignette that rolls through your head can be made into something you can use.

Get the Submittable App and start submitting your work, and don’t let rejections stop you. Keep sending that work out to new places because someone will want it.

Seven: Never Stop Reading. Read widely and in all genres. Read critically and apply what you learn about writing, both good and bad, to your work.

These are a few of the many things that I wish I had known when I first started writing professionally but didn’t. I hope it makes your writing life a little smoother.

Credits and Attributions:

Image: Macintosh Performa, Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Macintosh Performa 5200.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Macintosh_Performa_5200.jpg&oldid=729233027 (accessed July 23, 2023).

Image: Markers, Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Caran d’Ache Filzstifte.JPG,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Caran_d%27Ache_Filzstifte.JPG&oldid=506240371 (accessed July 23, 2023).

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July 3, 2023 · 6:00 am

Making effective revisions – avoiding repetition #amwriting

We who are indies know we should have our work edited, and most of us aren’t that good at self-editing. So, we find someone we can work with. But hiring an editor is expensive, so before we send our manuscript off, we should take the time to make it as clean as possible. It will greatly speed up the process if the editor doesn’t have to wade through a mess.

WritingCraft_self-editingOne of my favorite authors writes great storylines and creates wonderful characters. Unfortunately, the quality of his work has deteriorated over the last decade. It’s clear that he has succumbed to the pressure from his publisher, as he is putting out four or more books a year.

While I can write that many first drafts in one year, I could never make more than one book ready for a reader every two or three years. For that reason, I have manuscripts in various stages of completion and try to publish one a year. However, I often can’t keep to that schedule.

Taking the manuscript from the first draft to the finished product is a long and involved process. The author I mentioned above has his characters repeat what has already happened every time they meet someone new.

oopsThis frequently happens to me in a first draft, but whoever is editing for him is letting it slide, as it pads the word count, making his books novel-length. I suspect they don’t have time to do any significant revisions.

The Big Traditional Publishing Giants are just as tempted to rush a manuscript to publication as we indies are, and editing sometimes falls by the way. However, if an indie publishes work as poorly edited as what is being sold by the big publishers, the entire indie community looks bad.

Since the large publishing houses aren’t as concerned about their editing as we always thought they were, it’s up to us to find the flaws before we submit our work to them. This means you should prepare the manuscript as thoroughly as if you intended to publish it yourself.

ok to write garbage quote c j cherryhWhen we lay down the first draft, the story emerges from our imagination and falls onto the paper (or keyboard). Even with an outline, the story forms in our heads as we write it. While we think it is perfect as is, it probably isn’t.

The revision process is about far more than merely grammar and word placement. It is about ensuring the story arc doesn’t flat-line and that inadvertent repetition of entire ideas doesn’t bog it down.

Those who regularly read my blog know I frequently repeat an idea phrased a bit differently further down the post. My elderly brain seems determined to make that point, no matter what.

We all do this in our first drafts, and very few things are more “first draft” than a blog post.

Epic Fails meme2Inadvertent repetition causes the story arc to dip. It takes us backward rather than forward.  In my work, I have discovered that the second version of that idea is usually better than the first.

One way to minimize the number of flaws in your work is to print it out and read it aloud. Mark each place where you stumble or the passages don’t make sense with a highlighter.

You will find run-on sentences, spell-check errors, and many small things you don’t notice when it’s on the computer screen.

At this point, since you have already printed out each chapter, read it aloud, and highlighted what you stumbled over, you could take the time to go a little deeper into the revision process.

It’s already printed, so I don’t have to waste more ink or paper.

  • I turn to the last paragraph on each chapter’s last page.
  • Working my way forward with a yellow highlighter, I make notes in the margins.

Mardi_Gras_mask_cateyes_iconYou see things from a different angle when you start reading the chapter from the end and work your way toward the beginning. It’s amazing how many bloopers show up when you do this, even though you have already read it aloud. When you read it aloud you were going the direction you always go, the way you know so well. The mind tricks us, and we read what should be there instead of what is.

This admittedly involved process works for me because we don’t notice wonky grammar and mechanics as much when we see them on a computer screen.

Once I have printed out my manuscript chapter by chapter and finished going over it, I put the hand-corrected copy on a recipe stand beside my computer. I begin making revisions in a new file labeled with the date. The date in the file label tells me which is the most recent version of a manuscript.

BoH_revised_07-01-2023

(I never delete the old files because we never know when we might need something we have already written.)

weak-words-when-used-in-transitonsHere are a few things that stand out when I do this:

  • Inadvertent shifts in the spelling of names for people and places, such as Moran becoming Muran. (Keeping a style sheet of how names and created words are spelled and doing a global search for each before publishing resolves that.)
  • Places where I have contradicted myself, such as a town being northof the main character’s location, but they travel south to get there. Making a simple hand-drawn map resolves the location problem (if I remember to look at it).
  • Punctuation errors and missing quotation marks also stand out when I see them printed.

My editor keeps me aware of inadvertent shifts in spelling. Years ago, she taught me to make a style sheet for each project.

The style sheet can take several forms. Even a simple handwritten list will do, as it’s only a visual guide to print out or keep minimized on my desktop until needed. I was a bookkeeper, so I use Excel to copy and paste every invented name, hyphenated word, or placename the first time they appear in my manuscript.

  • I sometimes forget to make a note of made-up words and usages when I am really into writing. (Oops.)

My editor takes my list of invented words and adds the ones I overlooked to it during her part of the process.

ICountMyself-FriendsIf you have the resource of a good writing group, you are a bit ahead of the game. I suggest you run each revised chapter by your group and listen to what they say. Some of what you hear won’t be useful, but much will be.

Many years ago, a friend who read my work gave me a list of weak words to watch for.

Another friend trained me out of using “that” as a crutch word—a word I use too often in my everyday speech.

Constructive criticism is a good thing.

I have discovered that the real work of writing a novel comes after I have written the story.

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June 28, 2023 · 6:00 am

Beta Reading versus Editing #amwriting

Beta Reading is the first look at a manuscript by someone other than the author. It’s best when the reader is (1) a person who reads for pleasure and can gently express what they think about a story or novel and (2) a person who enjoys the genre of that particular story.

beta-reading-vs-editing-LIRF02232021I am fortunate to have excellent friends willing to do this for me. Their suggestions are thoughtful and spot-on.

This first reading by an unbiased eye is meant to give the author a view of their story’s overall strengths and weaknesses. This phase should be done before you submit the manuscript to an editor.

oopsIn my work, the suggestions offered by the beta reader (first reader) guide and speed up the revision process. My editor can focus on doing her job without being distracted by significant issues that should have been caught early on.

If you agree to read a raw manuscript for another author, remember that it has NOT been edited. Beta Reading is not editing, and the reader should not make comments that are editorial in nature. Those kinds of nit-picky comments are not helpful at this early stage because the larger issues must be addressed before the fine-tuning can begin.

This phase of the process should be done before you submit the manuscript to an editor, ensuring those areas of concern will be straightened out first.

This manuscript is the child of the author’s soul. Be sure to make positive comments along the way, and never be chastising or accusatory. Always phrase your suggestions in a non-threatening manner.

What significant issues must be addressed in the first stage of the revision process? If you are asked to beta read for a fellow author, ask yourself these questions about the overall manuscript:

How does it open? Did the opening hook you? As you read, is there an arc to each scene that keeps you turning the page? Make notes of any places that are confusing.

Setting: Does the setting feel real? Did the author create a sense of time, mood, and atmosphere? Is world-building an essential part of the story?

TRUST YOUR READERCharacters: Is the point of view character (protagonist) clear? Did you understand what they were feeling?  Were they likable? Did you identify with and care about them? Were there various character types, or did they all seem the same? Were their emotions and motivations clear and relatable?

Dialogue: Did the dialogue and internal narratives advance the plot? Did they illuminate the tension, conflict, and suspense? Were the conversations and thoughts distinct to each character, or did they all sound alike?

Pacing: How did the momentum feel? Where did the plot bog down and get boring? Do the characters face a struggle worth writing about, and if so, did the pacing keep you engaged?

Does the ending surprise and satisfy you? What do you think might happen next?

What about grammar and mechanics? At this point, you can comment on whether or not the author has a basic understanding of grammar and industry practices that suit their genre.

Be gentle! Phrase your suggestions with kindness. If the author’s work shows they don’t understand industry grammar and basic punctuation standards, suggest they get a style guide such as the Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation. Or, if you feel up to it, offer to help them learn a few basics.

I know how difficult sharing your just-completed first draft with anyone is. For that reason, being the first reader of another author’s work is a privilege I don’t take lightly.

So, we now know that beta reading is not editing. We now know the first reader makes general suggestions to help the author achieve their goals when revising.

to err is human to edit divineEditing is a process unto itself and is the final stage of making revisions. The editor goes over the manuscript line-by-line, pointing out areas that need attention: awkward phrasings, grammatical errors, missing quotation marks—many things that make the manuscript unreadable. Sometimes, major structural issues will need to be addressed. Straightening out all the kinks may take more than one trip through a manuscript.

There are different kinds of editing, as the various branches of literature have requirements that are unique to them:

In academic writing, editing involves looking at each sentence carefully and ensuring it’s well-designed and serves its purpose. In scholastic editing, every grammatical error must be resolved, making words and sentences more straightforward, precise, and effective. Weak phrasings are strengthened, nonessential information is weeded out, and important points are clarified.

In novel writing, editing is a stage in which a writer and editor work together to improve a draft by ensuring usages are consistent. The editor does not try to change an author’s voice but does point out errors. If an author’s style breaks convention, the editor ensures it is flouted consistently from page one to the end of the manuscript. At the same time, strict attention is paid to the overall story arc.

ok to write garbage quote c j cherryhAn editor is not the author. They can only suggest remedies, but ultimately all changes must be approved and implemented by the author.

Be careful when you ask a person to read your manuscript. Some people cannot see the flowers among the weeds and will be blunt and dismissive in their criticism. That is not what you want at that early point. You want an idea of whether you are on the right track with your plot and characters and if your basic storyline resonates with the reader.

Do yourself a favor. Try to find a reader who understands what you are asking of them. You want someone who enjoys beta reading.

When you have made the revisions your first reader suggested and feel your book is ready, hire a local, well-recommended editor. You need someone you can work with, a person who wants to help you make your manuscript ready for publication.

You might wonder why you need an editor when you’ve already spent months fine-tuning it. The fact is, no matter how many times we go over our work, our eyes will skip over some things. We are too familiar with our work and see it as it should be, not as it is.

Editors_bookself_25May2018A reader won’t be familiar with it and will notice what we have overlooked.

In my own work, a passage sometimes seems flawed. But I can’t identify what is wrong with it, and my eye wants to skip it. But another person will see the flaw, and they will show me what is wrong there.

That tendency to see our writing ‘as it should be and not how it is’ is why we need other eyes on our work. Our eyes might trick us, but another reader will see it clearly.

Next week, we’ll talk about the final draft and the process I use to make my manuscript ready for my editor.

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June 26, 2023 · 6:00 am

Mind-wandering and the Creative Process #amwriting

Mind-wandering … daydreaming … sitting around, and doing nothing, thereby annoying family members with agendas of their own. It’s an activity that is looked down upon because it represents idleness in a society that demands productivity. We have a culture that celebrates doing, achieving, producing, and succeeding.

My Writing LifeWhen observed by others, a person who is daydreaming appears lazy. Mind-wandering has no obvious purpose, but it is critical for creativity. Every groundbreaking discovery in science, every great invention we enjoy today—all were inspired by ideas that came to a person while thinking about something else or when they were mind-wandering.

Taking the time to sit and think about nothing in particular has everything to do with the nature and genesis of storytelling.

The ability to explain the world through stories and allegory emerges strongly in some people. Many are naturally able to form and express a story, even when discretion would be better. I can create a string of BS like no one else at the drop of a hat:

256px-Skillet_cornbread_(cropped)My oldest daughter, looking at our dinner, a casserole of beans with cornbread baked on top like a cobbler: “What the heck is that?”

Me, ever the smartass: “It’s stewed Yeti in gravy with a sweet cornbread topping. Try it. I think you’ll like it.”

Daughter: “Why can’t we have normal food, like normal people?” Takes a bite. “Mom. This tastes like the beans we had last night, except you added cornbread. You said the beans were jackalope nuggets.”

Me: “Did I say that? Sorry. I meant Yeti. I get the two confused.”

Daughter: “I’ll just have salad.”

Me: “Great choice. I made the ranch dressing with …”

Daughter: “Oh, God. Here it comes.”

Me: “… lion’s milk, since we’re out of buttermilk.”

Other people need the subliminal prompting of an image to spark their creativity. If you’ve visited here at Life in the Realm of Fantasy on a Friday, you know how much I love looking at and talking about art.

I’m not educated as an art historian, and I hope I don’t come off as pretending to be one. But I love the paintings of great artists because they tell a story. I like to research great art and the artists who created it. I love to share the images I come across and hopefully give others like me access to see the art that humanity is capable of, good and bad.

gear-brain-clip-art-smallPerception is in the eye of the beholder. Observation and thought are seeds that inspire extrapolation, leading the viewer to come away with new ideas. When I see the story captured in a single scene by an artist, my mind always surmises more than the painting shows. I see the picture as depicting the middle of the story and imagine what came before and what happened next. Unintentionally, I put a personal spin on my interpretation, and ideas are born. I don’t mean to, but everyone does.

Wikipedia tells us this about that: In mathematics, extrapolation is a type of estimation, beyond the original observation range, of the value of a variable on the basis of its relationship with another variable. It is similar to interpolation, which produces estimates between known observations, but extrapolation is subject to greater uncertainty and a higher risk of producing meaningless results. [1]

In real life, extrapolation is the act of an idea emerging from an idea, creating a chain of ideas that coalesce and form an assumption. That assumption generates more ideas, and the “thought party” roars on. This is how great novels begin.

 Anthony Jack, a cognitive scientist at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, says, “How we daydream and think depends on the brain’s structure. …(That) structure is constantly changing in small ways—as we learn new things the connections between nerve cells change.” (Read “Beyond the Brain” in National Geographic magazine.) [2]

We have long known that creative people are often guilty of mind-wandering. Researchers have shown that daydreaming makes you more creative. The mental conversation occurs when the daydreaming mind cycles through different parts of the brain and taps into the subconscious mind, bringing up information we had but were unaware of. The daydreaming mind connects bits of information we’ve never considered in that particular way.

According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a wandering mind can impart a distinct cognitive advantage. [3]

mindwanderingLIRF02212023This means that daydreaming is actually good for you. It boosts the brain, making our thought process more effective. Letting the mind wander allows a kind of ‘default neural network’ to engage when our brain is at wakeful rest, as in meditation, rather than actively focusing on the outside world. When we daydream, our brains can process tasks more effectively.

This is good to know because, as an author, I spend an astounding amount of time daydreaming, and I would hate to be simply wasting time!

Meditating on a tone, a pattern, or an image is a time-honored means of expanding one’s mind. Meditating or daydreaming turns off parts of your brain. Our brain has an analytic part that makes reasoned decisions and an empathetic part that allows us to relate to others.

Researchers have found when a person daydreams, their mind naturally cycles through different modes of thinking, analytic and empathetic. During this time, your brain’s rational and sympathetic parts tend to turn each other off, which is why this habit is crucial to creativity.

Creative people are often guilty of mind-wandering, but researchers have shown that daydreaming makes you more creative.

magicYou could be watching the birds, as my husband and I often do. Or maybe you’re perusing the display in a local art gallery or listening to music. I love all genres of music, but for writing I often find inspiration in powerhouse classical pieces such as Orff’s cantata, Carmina Burana, or Nobuo Uematsu‘s soundtracks to the Final Fantasy game franchise.

Whatever you choose to meditate on doesn’t matter. The act of mind-wandering generates ideas.

Let your mind wander. That feeling of stress will lessen, and soon, you may have an idea for a novel, a painting, or music.

Credits and Attributions:

Cornbread, Zankopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Skillet cornbread (cropped).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Skillet_cornbread_(cropped).jpg&oldid=449104554 (accessed June 24, 2023).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Extrapolation,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Extrapolation&oldid=1144519982 (accessed June 24, 2023).

[2] Beyond the Brain by James Shreeve, Cognitive Function Article, Neuroscience Information, Mapping Brain Facts — National Geographic Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright © 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved (accessed June 24, 2023)

[3] Where do our minds wander? Brain waves can point the way (medicalxpress.com) by Yasmin Anwar, University of California – Berkeley (accessed June 24, 2023)

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June 21, 2023 · 6:00 am

My Writing Life – #amwriting on the road

Once again Greg and I are at the beautiful Alderbrook Resort and Spa. He is here for a conference, and I am here as driver and for my wit and charm (not). We have the room for one night but of course the weather was cold and rainy when we arrived yesterday, so I didn’t get out for much of a hike. I did spend a great deal of time in the coffee bar, artfully labeled the Drinkery.

MyWritingLife2021Today, however, I plan a long walk along the beach.

One of the great things about writing in a different environment is how it jumpstarts my creative mind. I find it easy to write in coffee shops.

So, what am I working on?

I’m beta-reading a book of short stories for a friend and enjoying it a lot. These stories are set during the Vietnam War era and are quite interesting to me. I knew many people who were very like the characters in his stories.

Also, I am still trying to plot the final act of a duology that has been in the works for far too long. When that fails, I go back to working on the outline for November’s NaNoWriMo book, and both tasks are oozing along reluctantly.

On the fun side of things, I’m preparing for an in-person book selling event on July 1st at Olympia’s Pride Festival. I haven’t done an in-person event since before the pandemic. The best part of this is I will be with three other authors, Judy Kiehart, Ellen King Rice, and Johanna Flynn.

One of the questions prospective buyers always ask (and I hate) is, “What is your book about?”

My mind goes blank, and my mental response is “I don’t know” but since that won’t sell a book, I struggle to explain the core of my books in only a sentence or two. So, while I’m here at Alderbrook Resort, I’m working on my spiels. My goal is to make them short, concise (and hopefully) interesting.

Identifying the core plot device around which my narrative revolves is important.

Who or what is the book about?

I can sell either the idea of the book or the main character. Once I choose what to sell, main character or idea, I must stick to that. If I choose the character, I will use only the protagonist in the description, and forget the others, because it is that character’s story that I’m trying to sell.

Keep the spiel short. It’s easy to be long-winded and rambling about my work but I’ll only have about 60 seconds to sell that book.

ICountMyself-FriendsI have no trouble selling my friends’ books – I’ve read them all and love them, and love selling them. Maybe I can sell their books because I’m not emotionally invested in their creation, but I am invested as a reader.

But back to this lovely resort—a place that is conducive to creativity. Greg and I were here at Alderbrook last year, and as a vegan, I found the food was both delightful and unusual. The food this year has been outstanding, created with care and attention. If you’re curious, here’s the link to my post from a year ago, #RoadTrip! The Resort, The Vegan, and June-uary #amwriting.

(June-uary is what we call a normal June around here because it will be cold, overcast, and rainy, like a slightly warmer January without the snow.) We like cold gray and rainy Junes here in the Great Northwest, because July, August, and September tend to be hot and dry. The summer drought normally starts on July 5th, but since today is warm and partly sunny, 74 degrees (23 Celsius), and weather models for the foreseeable future look the same or warmer, the annual dry spell may be starting early this year.

I’ve enjoyed our brief stay here at Alderbrook Inn. The view of Hood Canal is fabulous, the grounds here are beautiful, and the peace of this place is soothing. I’ve gotten some good work done.

We’re still unpacking at our new apartment. I’m not sure where some things are, but gradually our new home is shaping up. I like the ambiance of my new office. I think a lot of new plot twists are just waiting to emerge from my subconscious and complicate things.

Lucky Coffee CupNext week on this blog we will talk about the creative process and the importance of mind-wandering. We’ll also talk about why it is important to beta read for your fellow writers, and how to be a good reader, one who gives positive feedback and offers constructive suggestions.

In the meantime, happy writing!

 

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June 14, 2023 · 6:00 am

Pacing part 2 – plotting the midpoint #amwriting

As I said in my previous post, Foreshadowing and the Strong Opening, I am writing the first draft of a new novel. I am filling in and altering the outline as I go. This means that nothing is canon, and many plot points, even major ones, will have changed by the time I am ready to publish this mess.

Words-And-How-We-Use-ThemSome novels are character-driven, others are event-driven, but all follow an arc. I’m a poet, and while I read in every genre, I seek out literary fantasy, novels with a character-driven plot. These are works by authors like Naomi Novik,  Tad Williams, and Patrick Rothfuss. These writers spend time crafting every aspect of their novels. For that reason, they cannot churn a new book out every year or even every two years.

Literary fantasy is a subgenre whose novels appeal to dedicated and determined readers. The authors spend time crafting prose that reflects a deep and often dark storyline, so if you prefer easily-digested fantasy, this is not for you. Complex themes play with and sometimes warp the expected fantasy tropes.

This subgenre focuses on the characters and how they are changed by their circumstances. Plot elements take place in a richly developed fantasy world. However, both setting and events are not the point of the story—they only frame and enable a character’s evolution.

hyperboleAnd the prose … words with impact, words combined with other words, set down in such a way that I feel silly even thinking I can write such works. Thankfully, my editor weeds out pretentious hyperbole and slaps me back to reality.

I am working on the first draft of a character-driven novel, trying to get the plot out of my head and noting events in the outline as I go. I have the first quarter nailed down reasonably well.

The midpoint of a novel is the longest section. It covers the second and third quarters of the book’s overall word count. In this section, emotions intensify, and the action does too. From this point on, the forces driving the plot are a train on a downhill run, picking up speed, and there is no stopping it or turning back now. The characters continue to be put to the test, and subplots kick into gear.

From the midpoint to the final plot point, pacing is critical.

And this is where I struggle as a writer.

These events tear the heroes down. They must break them emotionally and physically so that in the book’s final quarter, they can be rebuilt, stronger, and ready to face the enemy on equal terms.

As you approach the midpoint of the story arc, personal growth begins to drive the plot.

In the story I am plotting, two of the protagonists lose faith in themselves. One has a crisis of conscience, which is the result of the inciting incident. The other carries on doing what hasn’t worked in the past. Both have heavy burdens of guilt that must be shed.

Each must learn to live with who they are rather than who they wish to be.

Other characters know bits of the history behind these two, but no one knows everything. In this section, information must gradually emerge, showing the reader why they react the way they do. In the process, the four will learn to work together, setting aside their insecurities. By the final act, they must be hardened, able to function as a team, and determined to finish the task.

Book- onstruction-sign copyThis part of the novel is often difficult for me to get right. The protagonist must be put through a personal crisis. Their inner world must be shaken to the foundations.

But what is the lynchpin of this disaster?

It must be a logical outcome of events to that moment. My editor must be able to say, “Yes, that’s how it would happen.”

So now I need a terrible event. At this point in laying down the story, I don’t know what it is, but somehow, the protagonists have suffered a severe loss.

  • How are they emotionally destroyed by the events?
  • How was their own weakness responsible for the bad outcome?
  • How does this cause the protagonist to question everything they once believed in?
  • What gives them the courage to keep on going?
  • How does this personal death and rebirth event change them?

The midpoint is crucial because the truth underlying the conflict now emerges. As we approach the final act, the enemy’s weaknesses become apparent. My protagonists will overcome their crises and exploit those flaws—I just don’t know how yet.

I do know part of the plot. I have plans for the midpoint’s second half, an event where the protagonists must make hard decisions. They will scrape up the courage to do what must be done.

I haven’t discussed the enemy much, but I haven’t neglected them. They have had their day in the sun, and to my protagonists, it looks like the opponent has won. But even so, our heroes will reach into the depths of their souls and do what must be done, make that final effort.

plotting as a family picnicThis emotional low point is necessary for our characters’ personal arcs. It is the place where they are forced to face their weaknesses and rebuild themselves. They must discover they are stronger than they ever knew.

At this point in the novel, if I have done it right, my editor (who is also my first reader) will be worried, hoping everyone can hold it together long enough to overcome the hardships.

Fingers crossed, and with a fully fleshed-out outline at hand, it might happen. My writing group is a resource I will turn to as the plot progresses. They will kindly keep me from going off the rails, and that is a blessing.

Other posts in this series:

Pacing part one: foreshadowing and the strong opening #amwriting | Life in the Realm of Fantasy (conniejjasperson.com)

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June 12, 2023 · 6:00 am

Pacing part one: foreshadowing and the strong opening #amwriting

I’ve been struggling to find the place where the narrative of my new novel actually begins. Is it the day of his divorce? Is it the day of his brother’s death? Or is it the day he is released from the care of the healers after his breakdown?

MyWritingLife2021BAnd what of my female protagonist? Where does her story begin?

And the other pair—the ones that really need their own book but aren’t going to get it. What about them?

At this point, all I have is a mountain of backstory. It’s important because it tells me who my people are the day the novel begins.

It doesn’t need to be the opening chapter.

Every story begins with an opening act. The characters are introduced, and the scene is set. These paragraphs establish the tone of what is to follow, and if I have gotten my phrasing and pacing right, they will hook the reader.

This is where pacing comes into it. The intended impact of the book can and should be established in the first pages—but it takes work. I am writing a first draft right now, so most of what I write is a code telling me what I need to know when I get to the revision process.

I have introduced the setting. Where are the characters? Well, in this case, it’s easy. They are in the World of Neveyah, and fortunately for me, the world, the society, and the magic systems are already built. Some things are canon, which forces me to be creative and work within those limits.

Finally, I must introduce the conflict. What does the protagonist want? What hinders them?

My female protagonist must learn to live with her limits and trust her team. She must learn to delegate.

While she is doing that, my male protagonist must move beyond what he has lost and learn to appreciate what he still has.

My other female lead must be the friend the protagonist needs and make a choice between her career as a soldier or choosing to leave and raise a family.

Conversely, the other male lead must emerge from his father’s domination and choose to make his career as an artisan.

Not only that, but I must use my words in such a way that my readers don’t want to put the book down.

Novels are built the same way as a Gothic cathedral. Small arcs support other arcs in layers, creating an intricate structure that rises high and withstands all that nature can throw at it for the centuries to come.

Like our cathedral, the strength of a novel’s story arc depends on the foundation you lay in the book’s first quarter.

Plot-exists-to-reveal-characterI must introduce a story-worthy problem in those pages, a test propelling the protagonist to the middle of the book. The opening paragraphs are vital. They are the hook, the introduction to my voice, and must offer a reason for the reader to continue past the first page.

So, I must find where that story really begins, and trust me, it isn’t with a mental breakdown. The story begins with each character arriving at their new duty stations, each with a history that makes them who they are that day. Their pasts are known to others and do come out, but only when the other characters and the reader needs it.

I find pacing is the most challenging part of writing a first draft. Eighty percent of my writing will not make it into the final manuscript.

But it will be available in a file labeled ‘backstory’ for me to access when needed. I note names and relationships in my stylesheet and outline as I go.

One character is dark and brooding. I won’t explain why at the outset, as his backstory must emerge gradually, each morsel emerging when my female character must know. My side characters have an easier path, but their task is to provide information when required and to assist in the surface quest—catching a murderer.

With the back history in a separate file, I must open the novel with my characters in place. A  question must be raised, or I must introduce the inciting incident. This sets the four on the trail of the answer, throwing them into the action.

It’s too easy to frontload the opening pages with a wall of backstory. We always think, “Before you learn this, you must know that.”

All of that is true, but the history belongs in a separate file. I learned this the hard way—long lead-ins don’t hook the reader.

If my characters don’t need to hear the history of the Caverns of Despair, it’s likely that the readers also don’t care. The name is a pretty descriptive indicator of what lies ahead, so the twelve paragraphs detailing how the caves got their name are probably unnecessary.

The_Pyramid_Conflict_Tension_PacingMy favorite books open with a minor conflict, evolving to a series of more significant problems, working up to the first pinch point, where the characters are set on the path to their destiny.

I will open with a strong scene, an arc of action that

  • illuminates the characters’ motives,
  • allows the reader to learn things as the protagonist does, and
  • offers clues regarding things the characters do not know that will affect the plot.
  • The end of one scene is the launching pad for the next scene, propelling the story arc.

The clues I offer at the beginning are foreshadowing. Through the book’s first half, foreshadowing is important, as it piques the reader’s interest and makes them want to know how the book will end.

In the opening paragraphs, I will focus on the protagonists and hint at their problems. Subplots, if there are any, will be introduced after the inciting incident has taken place. They must relate to that incident in some way.

If you introduce side quests too soon, they are distracting. They make for a haphazard story arc if they don’t relate to the central quest. I think side quests work best if they are presented once the book’s tone and the central crisis have been established. Good subplots are excellent ways of introducing the emotional part of the story.

Even if I were to open the story by dropping my characters into the middle of an event, I’d need a pivotal event at the 1/4 mark that completely rocks their world. The event that changes everything is the core of the story.

Following the inciting incident is the second act: more action occurs, leading to more trouble and rising to a severe crisis.

I know how long I plan the book to be. I will take that word count and divide it by 4. I place the first significant event in the first quarter, presenting it after I introduce the characters. The following two quarters form the second act, the middle. If I have plotted well, the middle of the story arc should fall into place like dominoes.

We’ll talk about that in my next post.

storyArcLIRF10032021

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May 17, 2023 · 6:00 am

Layers of Depth: the uneven distribution of information

Plot points and conflicts are driven by the characters who have critical knowledge. The fact that some characters are working with limited information creates tension.

WritingCraftSeries_depth-through-conversationIn literary terms, this uneven distribution of knowledge is called asymmetric information. We see this all the time in the corporate world.

  • One party in a business transaction has more or superior information compared to another.
  • That inequality of information gives them an edge against the competition.

In a story, as in real life, a monopoly of information creates a crisis. An idle conversation will bore your reader to tears, so only discuss things that advance the plot. A conversation scene should be driven by the fact that one person has knowledge the others need.

The reader must get answers simultaneously as the characters, gradually over the length of a novel.

When I am writing a scene, I ask my characters three things:

The first question I ask is: “What is the core of the problem?” In the case of one story that was begun several years ago and never taken beyond the first draft stage, the core of the problem is Jared, my main character. The story is set in the World of Neveyah, and one of the canon tropes of stories set in that world is that all mages are trained by and work for the Temple of Aeos.

The_Pyramid_Conflict_Tension_PacingJared is hilarious, charming, naïve, a bit cocky, and completely unaware that he’s an arrogant jackass. He is a young man who is exceptionally good at everything and is happy to tell you about it. Jared has no clue that his boasting holds him back, as no one wants to work with him.

This boy is both the protagonist and the antagonist of this story.

The second question I ask is: “What do the characters want most?” Jared is a mage, and as such, he is a member of the Clergy of Aeos. He wants to be just like his childhood hero, or better. Jared needs approval and admiration to bolster his sense of self-worth. Everything he does is an effort to be seen as worthy.

Unfortunately, the leaders of the Temple of Aeos have plenty of heroes on hand and just want a mage who can be relied upon to get a job done well and with no fanfare.

The third question I ask my characters is this: “What are they willing to do to get it?” Jared has boasted many times that he will meet and overcome any obstacle, no matter how difficult the path to success is.

His mentors like him, but despair of his ever succeeding as a mage. They devise a simple (and on the surface) heroic seeming quest tailored to improve his attitude. They layer it with dirty and disgusting obstacles that he hasn’t planned for. Jared meets and works his way through these roadblocks one by one. His mentors ensure that when he does “rescue the kid,” he gets their message quite clearly. This is where the asymmetric information comes into play. Jared’s innocent assumptions make for a wonderfully wicked plot arc.

How will Jared’s story end? It ends in a satisfying mess with all the acclaim the young hero could ask for—along with a large serving of humble pie. But nothing can keep Jared down for long—he takes that embarrassment and embraces it with his own personal flair.

Epic Fails meme2When I started writing this story, I had the core conflict: Jared’s misguided desire to be important. I had the surface quest: rescuing the kidnapped kid. I had the true quest: Jared learning to laugh at himself and developing a little humility.

I had all the pieces and the completed first draft, but other projects had more priority. Then the pandemic hit, and this story was shelved.

Now, with all the hustle and bustle of moving to a new home, I need something short and sweet to work on for relaxation, and I came across Jared’s story. It needs serious revisions, but it’s one of my favorite Neveyah stories, as it is not dark as they usually are. Jared’s tale of woe is full of gallows humor, detailing the deeds of a hero who becomes a man.

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