You know, that's really helpful. Someone above was getting all upset about this talk about Mary Sues and the paranoia (from what I gather), but maybe this is the distinction that shifts us out of paranoia and into logical consideration of what we're doing. Identifying and idealizing. Though I suppose we'd be loath to actually admit to idealizing a character, were we prone to writing Mary Sues. This is an idea I will seriously ponder, and do some soul-searching.
And I think I just like this secondary character too much, which is probably a bad sign. I wouldn't call him perfect, and his actions are definitely not without serious consequences, but I'm going to be very careful about his construction in accordance with this discussion here.
I started out with a very clear hero story arc; purposely drawing on the cues from the genre to create a very classic hero who I can then sort of deconstruct and challenge. I don't think it's particularly revolutionary, but I'm interested in heroes and and what it means to be one in a society that needs you to do one thing and then disappear. So I have the clear hero who fits into that story, and then the people around him who either support him in being a hero (for good or for ill) or support him in pretending he's not a hero (again, for good or for ill). And then I'm trying to create a small cadre of people who are able to move past those binaries, and that's where this secondary character is.
I really appreciate the language you're giving me here to clarify some pitfalls. Rather than just generally hope I'm not making fatal flaws, it's really helpful to have some concrete ideas to pit my ideas against.
What's really freeing right now, for me, is that I'm really not thinking about what will or won't publish. I just want to write a good story, avoiding some of the more obvious pitfalls at least, because I just love my story and my characters and I want to do them justice. If the thing is publishable when I'm done with it, great. If not, fine. It's a great experience for me anyway. :)
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 02:42 am (UTC)And I think I just like this secondary character too much, which is probably a bad sign. I wouldn't call him perfect, and his actions are definitely not without serious consequences, but I'm going to be very careful about his construction in accordance with this discussion here.
I started out with a very clear hero story arc; purposely drawing on the cues from the genre to create a very classic hero who I can then sort of deconstruct and challenge. I don't think it's particularly revolutionary, but I'm interested in heroes and and what it means to be one in a society that needs you to do one thing and then disappear. So I have the clear hero who fits into that story, and then the people around him who either support him in being a hero (for good or for ill) or support him in pretending he's not a hero (again, for good or for ill). And then I'm trying to create a small cadre of people who are able to move past those binaries, and that's where this secondary character is.
I really appreciate the language you're giving me here to clarify some pitfalls. Rather than just generally hope I'm not making fatal flaws, it's really helpful to have some concrete ideas to pit my ideas against.
What's really freeing right now, for me, is that I'm really not thinking about what will or won't publish. I just want to write a good story, avoiding some of the more obvious pitfalls at least, because I just love my story and my characters and I want to do them justice. If the thing is publishable when I'm done with it, great. If not, fine. It's a great experience for me anyway. :)