Are You Writing Serious Fantasy? II

[Nurumaiel]

Anybody else have this problem?

Oh yes, Maeggaladiel, most assuredly I do! All the time. In fact I just recovered from being stuck for a week. I was at a very important part in the story. The conflict has just been introduced, the conflict that will be the main driving point for the story. But then... the characters fell silent. They didn't want me to do anything with them, they didn't want me to give them any dialogue... they just remained stubbornly silent.

And then just yesterday they opened their mouths. Two boys going with the soldier? How ridiculous, they cried! Our friend Barin is coming too! And then the second chapter opens up with characters never heard of... characters thousands of miles away from the people I was previously dealing with! A king and queen and their daughter, and her 'Instructor?' Where did they come from. But now they're there and the story has hope again.

EDIT: Yikes! To use a Tolkien example, I can say that one of my characters in the White Horse has told me something very unexpected. He fought in the War of the Ring, and he was Bard to King Theoden?! I'm very surprised but if that is true I suppose... it is.... I guess. These characters will never give me peace of mind!

I never force myself to write when I'm stuck. I get stuck for good when I do that. I've tried it before and good books have had to be set aside until they're rekindled in my mind. When I force myself to write when I'm confused and unwilling to write because I don't know what's happening all that gets put in the book. The book becomes confusing, forced, and boring. I give myself the opportunity to practice the virtue of patience and I wait. I think about it during the night when my imagination is working best. I think out scenes and atmospheres, and I wait for the characters to tell me what they did next. I let the characters be themselves and let them do what they want. I make them become real people and I'm their biographer. They tell me what happened; I write their history. Sometimes they fall silent and won't tell me and if I make up what they say and do they get mad at my faulty interpretations and remain silent for months.

Just wait. Take a walk and think about it, listen to music... something like that. I've mentioned that I act out my stories before, and I'll say now that it helps when I'm stuck. I'll act out a scene already written and oftentimes it will keep going and I'll know what happens next. Patience and time... that's what I need to get past the silence of my characters.

Happy writing to all!

[Imladris]

I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia and it suddenly occurred to me that you don't really get inside the character's head. You don't hear their thoughts, etc. This is, in my opinion, somewhat true in Tolkien's works as well. You certainly get to know a character better in LotR, but you don't really get inside anybody's head in that story either. So, do you prefer to write grand, historical epics where the story is being told to you, or do you prefer to write stories where there is one character and you draw the reader into his head?

[Lhundulinwen]

For me, it really depends on how many characters are in the story. Like in LOTR, at some points in the story, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas, Frodo and Sam are all in different places. If made more sense to follow each of the groups up to a certain point and then go back and pick up another group. But if a book has a main character who is withdrawn most of the time, or is alone a lot (without monologues of course) there is no way for the reader to really know what is going on during most of the story. Plus, when you're not in a character's head, you can figure out the other characters personalities without having to see it through there eyes. I once read a book where you root for the main character through most of the book, but at the end you find out she was really a horrible person and leader. It was an odd book.

But then again, when you get into a character's head, you can see where they are coming from a lot better, especially if they are acting unrational on the outside. So, if a character is say, beating up their best friend, for example, you won't know why unless you've seen the action that caused the reaction or the character tells someone why. So, in that case it would be better to be in their heads I think.

[The Mushroom]

Ooooh... I write a bit of fantasy. I guess I like writing fantasy because for me it just comes easiest. I can't see myself writing something like... oh... a historical novel for instance. That's just not what I do. I think Tolkien has influenced my writing a little but not drastically (I don't think).
Anyway, I like it when an author takes their reader "inside the head" of one of the characters. It connects the reader to that character a little more.

[Eowyn Skywalker]

I find it rather annoying to know exactly what the charactes are thinking, and so on, because, with the style of writing that I do, and like reading, it would give too much of the plot away. You really must think on that, to have the characters thoughts would give away plot lines, and then, later on, things wouldn't come as a surprise. Straying away from Lord of the Rings, I will comment on Star Wars here... if, for example, you had known what Darth Vader was thinking on Cloud City , the fact that he was Luke's father would've never came as a shock. (Couldn't think of a LotR example for my point). So, therefore, I dislike first person, and stories that really let you know what's inside the characters mind. I tend to feature around a group of characters, anyhow, so it would be pointless, and would reveal too much to let you know what's on inside their heads.

Just my two cents. Not that I have any sense, nor do I usually make any sense...

-Eowyn Skywalker

[Sirithheruwen]

Well, as you know, my story has four protags. The bulk of the story will be in one of the protag's POV (N.). The rest of the story, though, will be alternating chapters between the other three protags (V., E., and F.)

Well, Ms. Skywalker (too tired to type the whole thing), you say that if you get into the character's heads, you destroy plotlines. Well, that's true, you could destroy the plotlines you were thinking of, but you could also open up new plotlines as well. I could tell you an example from my story, but that would be telling.

Well, that's all folks...
(Well, don't blame me, Ms. Skywalker took the good ending! )

[Imladris]

Usually when you're inside a character's head, it's only one person usually. There are exceptions, of course, for stories with more than one character.

Edit: Yeah mark12_30 *points to mark's post below*, that's what I mean.