When we write a tale involving human beings, morality will likely enter it at some point. What is our responsibility as authors when it comes to telling our stories? I feel it’s important to write honest characters, no matter the genre.
Do you write your heroes with few flaws, or do you portray them as “warts and all?” That becomes a matter of what you want to read.
Some people want cozy, comfy stories, written in such a way that a happy ending is assured. There is nothing wrong with that and there is a market for those stories.
For myself, I gravitate to tales written with guts and substance. Give me the Flawed Hero any day.
In Huw the Bard, I describe a murder committed in cold blood. I take you from the worst moment in Huw’s life and follow him as he journeys to a place and an act which, if you had asked him two months prior, he would have sworn he was incapable of committing. Sadly, this is not the lowest point in his tale. It is, however, the beginning of his journey into adulthood.
Does my writing the story of this terrible act mean I personally advocate revenge murders? Absolutely not. I believe no human being has the right to take another’s life or harm anyone for any reason.
Still, I write stories about people who might have existed and have their own views of morality. In each tale, I try to get into the characters’ heads. I want to understand why they sometimes make terrible choices, acts that profoundly change their lives.
The Billy’s Revenge series is set in the world of Waldeyn. Billy Ninefingers appears as a character at the end of Huw the Bard and is the man the series is named after.
Having just inherited the captaincy of a mercenary band known as the Rowdies, Billy is on the verge of having everything he ever wanted. However, an unwarranted attack by a jealous rival captain seriously wounds him, destroying his ability to swing a sword. Desperate to hold on to his inheritance, Billy must build a new future for himself and the Rowdies despite his disability.
In keeping with the theme in this series, his tale explores how we justify our actions for good or ill and how his worst moments shape his life.
Toward the end of that book, Huw’s story converges with Billy’s, a small glimpse of the bard’s life as a mercenary. Some of my other favorite characters also appear in Billy’s tale of trouble and woe because his story and the Rowdies are intertwined.
Billy and Huw both came into existence thanks to the original draft of Julian Lackland. They were characters who had an immense influence on Lackland and who both deserved their own stories. All three men are heroes, and all three have done things they are not proud of.
To me, the flawed hero has much to offer us. In my most recently published book, a stand-alone novel called Bleakbourne on Heath, we meet Leryn, a young bard with a romantic view of life.
His two primary desires are simple, the sort of dreams any young person might have. As a bard, he wants to find and write the stories of Angland’s romantic and mysterious past, and he hopes to someday be married and settled down.
Unfortunately, being situated at the crossroads between the mortal realm and Hell, Bleakbourne isn’t as quiet and peaceful as he had hoped. Against his will, Leryn becomes involved with people he thought were only legends, discovering that being a hero is a lot less glamorous than it sounds.
Sir Galahad by George Frederick Watts PD|100
One of my favorite characters in Bleakbourne is Lancelyn Reynfrey, Knight at Large. Lance believes in the purity of knighthood and the responsibility of a knight to serve and protect the humblest people. He is convinced he has no imperfections to cast a shadow on his worthiness.
Unfortunately, his relationship with a neighbor’s son led to his family hiring a matchmaker and marrying him off to a somewhat naïve sorceress. That didn’t go well, and when we meet Lance, he isn’t as white a knight as he wishes, although he is definitely not a black knight.
He’s more of a grayish knight, a man under a terrible curse and with vengeance in his heart.
However, Leryn the bard does meet a black-hearted knight, and while that encounter is not a high point in his week, it sets the plot in motion.
In real life, we all have areas of gray in our moral code, although we usually choose to ignore them. These areas of ethical ambiguity are what make the written character fascinating. Nothing is less intriguing to me than a perfect person doing perfect things in a perfect world.
I try to tell the best story I can, because I am writing for my own consumption–I am my target audience. This means sometimes I stretch the bounds of accepted morality. I sometimes look into the shadowed areas of human nature, not for the shock value but because the story demands it.
The fantasy genre is written for entertainment, and that is where my reading interests lie. So, when I write a story, I want to tap into the emotions of the moment, which means writing perfectly imperfect characters.
The story should take the reader on an emotional journey with the hero and the antagonist. Both must have goals, both must face setbacks, and both must work to overcome those hurdles.
The difference between the antagonist and the hero is the amount of grayness in their moral compass. When does the gray area of morality begin edging toward genuinely dark? What are they not willing to do to achieve their goal?
Answering that question can take the story in a direction that surprises you. For me, those are the best moments as a writer, the days when I become fired up for my story and can’t stop thinking about it.
One 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.
This 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.
When 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.
Inadvertent 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.
You 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.
Here are a few things that stand out when I do this:
If 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.
I am fortunate to have excellent friends willing to do this for me. Their suggestions are thoughtful and spot-on.
In 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.
Characters: 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?
Editing 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.
An editor is not the author. They can only suggest remedies, but ultimately all changes must be approved and implemented by the author.
A reader won’t be familiar with it and will notice what we have overlooked.
When 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.
My oldest daughter, looking at our dinner, a casserole of beans with cornbread baked on top like a cobbler: “What the heck is that?”
Perception 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.
This 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.
You 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, 
Today, however, I plan a long walk along the beach.
I 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.
Next 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.
I have “pantsed it” occasionally, which can be liberating but for me, there always comes a point where I realize my manuscript has gone way off track and is no longer fun to write. Then I must return to the point where the story stopped working and make an outline.
The first tool is a sense of balance. Every published novel has entire sections that were cut or rewritten at least once before it got to the editing stage.
At first, the page is only a list of headings that detail the events I must write for each chapter. I know what end I have to arrive at. But the chapter headings are pulled out of the ether, accompanied by the howling of demons as I force my plot to take shape:
Don’t be afraid to rewrite what isn’t working. Save everything you cut because I guarantee you will want to reuse some of that prose later at a place where it makes more sense.
Some 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 
And 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.
This 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.
This 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.
And what of my female protagonist? Where does her story begin?
I 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.
My 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.
The inciting incident is followed by a series of plot points, places where complications are introduced into the narrative.
The opening setting for this story is a small town in an exceedingly rural part of Thurston County. One must travel at least ten miles in any direction to find another city. After sundown, you must drive on narrow, winding, pitch-black country roads. I, the protagonist in my story, suffer from severe night blindness, which meant we had to return home before sundown, putting a real crimp in our social life.
Major surgeries happened for the other two, and I was many miles away to the south, getting our house on the market. But our sons and daughters are entering middle age, and our older grandchildren are adults. Despite our worries, our granddaughters proved they were mature and more than capable of handling their lives.
The protagonists are settling into the new neighborhood. One of the niftiest things about their community is the Starbucks—and yes, I did say Starbucks. The owners of the 
I find that writing is easy here. Creativity comes in bursts, and I feel good about my writing. We have pared our possessions down to the point that they don’t possess us—something you don’t realize is a problem until you are faced with serious downsizing.
In writing, this happens when the narrative keeps expanding, and expanding, and expanding … and what was canon in chapter 4 is contradicted in chapter 44. The story grows as we write it.
If you are writing a tale set in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, you are creating that world.
Your map doesn’t have to be fancy. Use a pencil to easily update your map if something changes during revisions. You want to know:
Life in the Realm of Fantasy 
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