Hi gang, Craig here again. I’ve written about my living documents here before. You can check out this post from 2016. I’m still a big believer in living documents, but it’s become more of an expanded library now.
Turns out, these don’t have to be limited to documents. My story boards are living documents, in a way. They evolve slowly, and I harvest them when they’re ripe. You can read more about story boarding here.
My newest one is Pinterest. I know we’re supposed to use everything for promotion, but I find that tiresome. It’s also overlooking some genuine value in the format.
I started off making book specific boards. Those are helpful when it comes time to write a story. Maybe there is a setting, or car, or something you want to use in the tale. It’s nice to have a reference point or two.
Originally posted on Library of Erana: I am delighted to announce the forthcoming release of the latest in the Here Be series. Here Be Unicorns From fable to legend, these wondrous beasts enchant us. Healers or harmers, no one truly…
In April 2018, I posted my thousandth post on this blog. To celebrate, I started sharing here all my short stories. Every couple of weeks, I’ll be posting one story from my celebrated Exciting Destinies series for you to enjoy. With over 30 stories so far, I hope you’ll have lots of fun in the coming months!
“Can you believe that idiot?” I spat the words as soon as I slammed the car door shut.
“Honey, that idiot is your older brother.” My wife looked at the mirror and patted her lips with her index finger. She opened her purse, oblivious to my rage.
“Older brother? He’s, like, ten minutes older than me!”
I kind of stumbled onto this concept while looking for something else. I don’t actually remember what I was searching for because this was more interesting. At first, I thought I did it with Beginning of a Hero when I introduced the paladin, but Luke Callindor had shown up first. It was also clear that he was the hero of the story, which means I haven’t attempted a False/Decoy protagonist yet. Now, what is this?
A False Protagonist is a literary trick where the author creates a hero that they build up as the main character. At some point in the story, this character is either eliminated or turned evil to reveal that he/she/it is not the true protagonist. Various methods of removal include death, memory wipe, disappearance, retirement, crippling injuries, or simply giving up. This is typical done for shock value, which is why it’s called a trope, but it still works. Now, the real protagonist could be a supporting character or someone that shows up with a connection later. Normally, the audience has already met the real hero or at least has heard of them. This character carries the story to its finale in a way that makes sense, so you need to work on a good transition.
You do have some risks here because people might become so attached to the False Protagonist that they refuse to continue. An example here is Gurren Lagann, which has Kamina as the hero for the first leg of the story only to be replaced by Simon who proves to be the real protagonist. This worked because they were friends and Simon stepping into the role felt natural. Still, I’ve met many people who liked Kamina so much that they stopped watching after he was gone. Is there a way to counter this? Not perfectly because you can’t force readers to bond with every character. Everyone picks their favorites and gamble on those characters getting a lot of page time as well as surviving. So, a False Protagonist really needs to be done with the idea that you’re going to lose some readers with the transition.
Personally, I find this technique intriguing and keep thinking about how many times I’ve run into it. Probably not as much as I believe since I read a lot of stuff this is fairly straightforward. Video games do this a bunch like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X, which I enjoyed. Not really sure I could pull this one off either. Partially because I blog a lot and love introducing characters, so I’d probably ruin it by accident. The other is that I tend to be fairly straightforward and blunt. Yet, I could probably pull it off for a few chapters if I put my mind to it. There is one story where I was thinking of doing that, but the blurb might out me as well as the series title. Guess there are some tricks I’m simply not designed for. Wonder if Crossing Bedlam counts since it starts with Cassidy having a team and then Lloyd kills everyone except her. Eh, I’ll count it for now.
So, what do you think about the False Protagonist? Have you ever used it or do you think you will?
Amazon makes it easy to buy the wrong version of your favorite book
Anyone can publish text that’s in the public domain, meaning there are plenty of bizarrely formatted versions of classic novels out there.
Amazon conflates the reviews for multiple editions of a title, making it difficult to tell what you’re actually buying.
One customer’s story of getting a bizarrely-formatted version of “Pride and Prejudice” led me to track down the copy’s origins — and publish my own edition of a classic book using Amazon’s tools.
Danielle Kurtzleben wanted a copy of “Pride and Prejudice,” so she went on Amazon and clicked on one of the first links that came up in the search results. When the book arrived in her mailbox, there was a surprise.
First of all, it was huge — the size of a children’s coloring book, not like a typical paperback novel. Things only got…
So, I saw How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World back in February. It was really good and I wanted to write about it, but I also didn’t want to stumble into any spoilers. Makes this relatively simple task even harder because we’re talking about the end of a trilogy here. It’s interesting how the franchise has been so popular, but it still seems to be on the fringe instead of front and center like the MCU, Star Wars, and *insert other Disney properties here*. That’s probably a big part of the charm too. I’m getting off topic here.
Now, I watched the first two movies leading up to the third. I didn’t have time to watch any episodes, but I have seen many in the past. All of this might have contributed to me tearing up at the end. I kind of did the same with Kung Fu Panda, but this sense of finality really stuck with me throughout the day. It was really a beautiful send off to the franchise. Every character that we’ve seen grow throughout the series got time to shine and show a little more growth . . . Well, not the twins. I was actually surprised how active the twins were this time. Not a bad thing, but an unexpected treat. Heck, I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like about this movie. Visuals were great. Villain was deliciously evil, but not to the point where I wanted the bastard to win. The character’s challenges were agonizing at times since they really played up Hiccup’s inner conflict. A lot romance for some audiences. Lots of action and new dragons for others. Seriously, I really think this one hit all of the marks you would want to hit with a movie aimed at children that needs to keep adults interested. Also, a finale.
There was something the local reviewer said that irked me too. It was a complaint that it was a cursory goodbye. Now, I can’t tell what he meant by this. At first, I thought it was that the ending was too kind and positive. That it was a mild, mellow ending, which isn’t a bad thing. You don’t have to unleash destruction on a franchise in the final installment. I know many in society don’t like the ‘happily ever after’ thing (even though this isn’t a perfect one of those), but it does happen. One could even say that seeing a positive ending to a franchise is good because it can give people hope that it’s possible in reality. That being said, he could have also been saying that the series was ended too soon. He might not have watched the TV series, but I do understand how one would like to see this series continue. It was never overpowering and would be a lot of fun whenever it showed up with a new installment. You didn’t get sick of it either. It never seemed to get dull, which is why many might think this is too early a finish. I can see that. Though, I also worry about things going on for so long that you have to do a mercy kill.
That’s what I had to say about How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Hard to do without spoilers, but I tried. I recommend you check it out for yourselves and see what I mean.
Yes, it was exciting. But I also had some concerns. Even though my publisher had arranged everything, I hardly expected anyone to show up:
It was on a Saturday at 1 pm, when most people would either be home getting ready for lunch or at a children’s costume party (it’s the middle of the Greek Carnival).
Even the publisher’s PR guy, the one who had arranged the presentation, had told me beforehand he would not be showing up, as he had to be elsewhere (presumably at a bigger author’s event).
My author friends had warned me that Ianos hosts four such events every single weekend, so it was unlikely…
First, I look seltzer with ice. Soda in general, but I really love having a cup of flavored seltzer with ice. I don’t know why it tastes so good and I guzzle it down in a state of yummy bliss. Okay, I just had to say this since it’s what I’m drinking now. It’s Polar Strawberry Lemondae flavored. Trying not to blast through the Starfruit Lemonade flavor since I only have one box of those. Hmmm, I guess I wasn’t quite down with the topic this time.
Guess I don’t really have much to report since this week was going back to work/school after Winter Break. It was mostly getting back into the schedule, which wasn’t as easy as I thought. Not because of anything happening at school. The temperature dropped into the 20’s on Monday and that’s when my itching came back. Yeah, I’ve definitely got an ‘allergy’ that’s connected to temperature. I thought it was stress, but I think it was mostly my body temp going up. This meant I was taking Benadryl at night and just conking out without much of a fight. Not the best type of sleep. I also did the ‘genius’ manuever of taking half a dose of Benadryl in the morning when I woke up itchy. Trying to stay awake for the first half of the day was a struggle and I felt rather embarrassed. Hopefully that’s done since I took a 24-hour antihistamine today and I’ve been fine. Think I finally found a solution and I only really need it when it’s in the mid-30’s and lower.
You can tell this is going to be a rather lame and odd post. The truth is that I didn’t get to do any writing beyond two blog posts. Part of it was the allergy and another part was that I was just tired. I also got hooked on this:
At the writing of this post, I’ve only finished through episode 6 because I binged the first 4 last Sunday afternoon. Then, I would only watch episodes when I was comfortable and had no distractions. It’s got more drama and angst than I expected, but the action, comedy, and characters are great. The story is pretty good too. Makes me want to hunt down the graphic novel. I have realized that it isn’t the easiest series to explain because it involves time travel, superheroes, vigilantism, sibling rivalry, speaking to the dead, talking chimpanzees, donuts, and the end of the world. I’d give it a few episodes to see if you really like it. There were a few that felt rather slow, but I enjoyed getting to know the characters enough to ignore that. Not sure why, but Klaus became my favorite. I think I just needed to laugh and he had some pretty funny scenes in the beginning. Then, an event happened and he became amazingly, realisticly human.
Now, this weekend is going to be a little laidback and then busy. I’m going to finish chapter 5 of War of Nytefall: Eradication today (edit: already seeing issues here), but probably won’t be able to tackle chapter 6 until next weekend. The reason is because I’m taking my son to an autism friendly showing of ‘Aladdin’ on Broadway. It’ll be his first Broadway show and my second because I’m not big into theater. ‘Aladdin’ appeals to me because it’s a story that I like and grew up with. My son liked the movie and is excited. That’s the big event for the weekend and maybe the month.
It’s another 6.5 weeks before I get another break, so I’ll probably be preparing more blog posts for April and May. Still hoping to release War of Nytefall: Rivalry in April, but I’m juggling a lot. I really need to write those blurbs and I’m aiming to have those ready for a public showing next Sunday. The cover art is coming along and the editing is done to the best of my ability. Had one person look it over and added all their edits, so fingers are crossed here. Life has just been so busy and I know many have told me to not even try to release a book, but I need that last piece of normalcy. To do this is a sign that I can continue writing even if it’s at a slower pace. I took extra time editing this book to make sure I’m not letting the stress cause trouble. Book 4 might be a little tougher since I’m writing that when I’m still a little off, but it’s helping me recover. The slower pace is a benefit here because I only write when I feel mentally ready. Some day, I’ll master all the balancing, but I’m getting there. I’ve already decided that the summer is going to be primarily preparing blog posts and tinkering with another Ichabod Brooks collection, which might take more than a year to put together.
For a week where I didn’t do much, I sure had a lot to say. What are the goals?
Drink more yummy seltzer.
ALADDIN!
Work hard and sleep harder.
Finish chapter 5 of War of Nytefall: Eradication.
Do at least 6 April blog posts.
Write more next weekend.
Finish watching ‘Umbrella Academy’.
Biking.
Finally:
Still looking for War of Nytefall: Rivalry blog tour volunteers. Also, feel free to suggest blog post topics if there’s something you want me to write about. It might take a while, but I always apprecitate requests from the audience when it comes to my blog.
Hints and clues
Scattered about the pages
To create a network
That spans the void
Connecting heroes
Who may never cross paths
Weaving a tapestry
Of the finest mental silk
The author can muster
*
Must one read all?
To fully grasp each tale
Or can they stand alone
Joined by whimsy
And a shared world
That grows with every volume
Blossoming into a web
That can snare the mind
Of all who entire
Turns out, these don’t have to be limited to documents. My story boards are living documents, in a way. They evolve slowly, and I harvest them when they’re ripe. You can read more about story boarding here.
