Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Choose This.

So I'm elbow-deep into plotting this book.  I say "elbow-deep" because it's messy, complicated, and I'm sure at some point I'll realize I've severed something vital.  This is the metal fantasy thing I talked about a few entries back, and I think I'm hitting the points I want to with it, at least so far.  I have the first draft of the plot done, and with that behind me, I did some great character work that will also make the plot better when I go over it again.

I've gotten so used to things crashing and burning or just fading away in the early stages, so it's a little weird to actually feel good about a plot again.

However, I'm dealing with a different issue with the main heroine.  The story takes place in a world where just about everyone has draconic ancestry, many generations removed.  (Yes, dragons were made to be able to breed with just about anything, and there are reasons both for why they can and why they did.)  The heroine gets thrown into the whole mess because she's the only one who has the same very rare draconic bloodline as the main villain, and some people believe that makes her the only one who can defeat him.

Which sends me kicking and screaming into The Chosen One territory.

I'd like to state for the record that I'm bloody tired of The Chosen One.  Not only have I seen it too much, I've used it too much.  The first book I ever wrote relied heavily upon destiny to explain why the heroes had their unusual abilities; I had plans to actually explain that away in the second book.  (Looking back on it, I have no idea why I ever thought there would be a second book.)  The rewrite of that story did the same, only with an even larger Chosen Cast.  There's something about someone starting the story with prophecy or something similar on their side that takes a lot of the fun out of it for me.

Though I do wish I hadn't had to write it so much to learn that.

I'm also tired of a similar variant, a hero with an incredibly unique ability that means they're the only one equipped to handle what the story throws at them.  Yes, I did this all over the place in THE ACCIDENTAL WARLOCK, and it wasn't the first time an incarnation of Shiloh filled that role.  But this leads to the same thing - a hero with a much greater chance to succeed not because of their own skill or knowledge, but because of something they were born with.

So, one of the things I'm working on is making sure I avoid these particular tropes.  There are no prophecies in this book - Our Heroes have their own reasons for getting into all this trouble.  Good reasons too, I think, since the villain is not exactly a nice individual.  And while the heroine's bloodline is rare, it's not unique, and its powers don't manifest in the same way as the villain's.  That power, while useful, is also not the key to solving the whole problem - no one person's bloodline is.  It's more about this motley crew coming together to take care of a problem no one else was willing to solve.

While I don't deliberately aim for tropes (okay, most of the time, sometimes it's just too good not to), it seems like The Unchosen One serves much better here.  And I'm good with that.

14 comments:

  1. The Chosen One has been overused. Glad you've found a way to work around that.
    My first book did feature a character with a unique ability, but he wasn't the only. Just happened to be in the right place at the right time to use it.

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    1. Yeah, unique abilities are good - I read way too many X-Men comics growing up to be against that. But it's no fun when all of Cyclops's problems can be solved with his eyebeams. ^_^

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  2. 1) You're really good at world-building. Just saying. 2) You've been plotting a TON! It's amazing...but which one are you going to write? 3) The Chosen One is overused but there's a reason it's so popular!

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    1. 1. Thank you. I've done a lot of broad strokes for this world, but only really developed a few areas, so anything could happen.
      2. I'm plotting so much because I'm planning on moving fairly soon, and I don't want to have to stop writing a book for that. >_< But I have the plot for the next Shiloh & Alexi story completely done, so that's the strongest possibility. Others will depend on how well they go.
      3. ...and? :P

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    2. Yup, you're right, I do like the answer to #2!! :D

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  3. There are lots of ways to un-trope a tropism! As you said, making her genetic background less "chosen" and more serendipitous is one way. Making it only a piece of the puzzle and not the sole key to success is another. It sounds like you know what you're doing, and as a hopeless pantster, I salute your advance plotting with just a little bit of envy. :D

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    1. As an ironbound plotter, I envy your ability to turn an idea into a book without dozens of pages' worth of hashing everything out first. :P Though I'll never know if *any* of us actually know what we're doing. I think we all make it up as we go, with every single book, and not many of us want to admit it. Eh heh heh...

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  4. I'm a big fan of the special snow-flake chosen one plot. But it's been done so badly that sometimes I can't stand it.

    At least you are having a good time sorting this out.

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    1. I'm sure there are ways to do it well, but if there's a way to do it without making it boring and predictable, I don't know it. Or maybe I just don't want to know it.

      But yes, this has been fun to figure out. Especially the parts with the gnome.

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  5. I think you're the chosen one to write the unchosen one book!

    Good job on planning and working with the characters. Sounds like you're plugging along well. :)

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    1. That's... a little too metafictional for real life. O_o

      But thank you. ^_^ It's going all right, though not as well as I'd like, as my next blog entry will show.

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  6. It's SO HARD to not go the chosen one route… because you WANT your MC to be special… I think there are ways around having your MC be a "chosen" one, but not make it seem like they're a chosen one, if that makes sense. Ha. But yeah… there are so many tropes we need to stay away from and avoid…

    HUGE props to you for plotting!!! Keep pushing, Mason. You've got talent. I'm glad you're feeling good plot wise right now!!!

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    1. It's a trope that I've come to avoid, though there are ways to use it well. But yeah, it's hard sometimes to find ways to make the MC feel special, but I focus on having it be because of what they do and who they are, not just something they were gifted with.

      And thanks. ^_^

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