(This is another sestina from back in the day. Again, these are poems with 6 stanzas, 6 lines each, and the same 6 final words in different positions. Takes a few tries to get them right since you can go 5 stanzas with ease then run into a mess at the finish line.)
He is the shadow of the forest.
Seen by many who are lost.
A towering buck without a herd.
Rarest sight among these trees.
Many believe him to be king.
The lord of all with antlers.
He leaves no markings on the trees
No scars left by his antlers.
He moves with the poise of a king.
Far removed from his adoring herd.
The stag’s prints are quickly lost.
As if they are eaten by the forest.
People talk about his ancient herd.
Once raised for a nameless king.
Fed the leaves of copper trees.
Giving them the sharpest antlers.
Of any creature in the forest.
Before the breed was lost.
Many claim the blood of the king.
They hope to enter the great forest
And return with the precious antlers.
Only few have not been lost.
They say the rest are taken by a herd
The stag can summon from the trees.
Many come forth with false antlers.
These they swear were shed from the herd.
All other proof has long been lost
By the timeless, growing forest.
The only ones who know are trees.
Who existed at the time of the king.
Even though the truth is lost
And none can whisper with the trees.
The stag still lives within the forest.
Acting like he is the rightful king.
With golden light born from his antlers.
He is the lord without a herd.
Things don’t always run smoothly for adventuring parties. Even if they’re the best of friends, a tense situation or a misunderstanding can cause conflict. So, what are some things to consider if you want the heroes to butt heads?
Be aware that there are lines that can’t be crossed without the group being completely destroyed. If you have them begin fighting in such a way that the reader can’t believe they would realistically be allies again then you might have gone too far. Interparty conflict is there primarily to create character growth and possibly shift the power dynamic. The only time you should really cross certain lines is if your intention is to destroy the party.
There should be some build up for the conflict. If things are going smoothly then you can’t suddenly have them get into a full-on screaming much. Have some tension appear beforehand. It can be them nearly dying or getting lost or something that doesn’t even have to do with the party members. Your heroes need to be under enough stress that it makes sense for them to react to what would be the inner party spark, which could be minor in the grand scheme of what they are dealing with.
Conflict doesn’t always have to be overt. There could be a situation where a member doesn’t trust someone. So, they begin acting a certain way around them. This will eventually turn into an open issue, but the conflict can stay under the surface for a while. It doesn’t even have to explode. A third party could notice, talk to both allies, and get them to discuss things.
There doesn’t always have to be a yelling match or violence. That is flashier, but that is the extreme finale of party conflict. Like in real life, things can be settled through a discussion. It isn’t dramatic, which is why most authors don’t use it much. Yet, it can work for certain situations. Some conflicts can be caused by an accidental slight that the annoyed person doesn’t mention.
Cursing is not necessary! Neither is mother insults!
Timing is important for a conflict to come to a head. Having it all happen during a dangerous situation might not make sense even if it increases the tension. I think people do this under the ‘facing death makes you want to say everything on your mind’ concept. Yet, it ignores that most people would want to survive and know that their allies being on their side increases their chances. Pissing off someone who is trying to keep you alive is self-destruction and foolish. If it fits the character then it works, but it gets done for some who you would think have more sense.
A personal issue should fit the personality of the characters involved. Those who demonstrate a level of pettiness or hold loyalty in high regard are examples of those that can have conflict with less noble allies. One who is highly forgiving or doesn’t care about underhanded tactics wouldn’t fit very well if they go off on someone over anything short of a major slight. Even the way that a character goes off needs to fit how they have been acting up until that point. Otherwise, it feels like the author is doing it solely for the sake of drama and hasn’t thought it out.
I’m pretty much out of teasers since I’m reusing old ones. So, I’m trying to figure out something I can do to keep Tuesday as a book promo day. Here are some ideas that I can do starting in December:
Character interviews that can use Sundays to gather questions and then I’ll set up the post for the following Tuesday. Probably do all of the main heroes from the series. I’d do a poll, but I can’t find that option on WordPress anymore.
Rotate through my books to do a simple ‘Buy it’ every week. Take a smaller teaser if possible.
Repost the character origins posts from long ago.
Keep doing teasers even though I’ve used all of them at least twice.
Give up on promoting books.
Something else that I haven’t thought of that people might want to see.
I thought of this ‘issue’ when I was rewatching an anime called ‘Delicious in Dungeon’. A character ends up keeping a secret from the rest of the group, which causes some trouble at a pivotal moment. They still find success and survive, but it created a brief argument and lecture afterwards. Not a shattering of the group, but reminding the character that they need to trust each other. So, it got me thinking about how authors have used the secret trope.
Minor
These are small background secrets of a character that come out as flavoring throughout the adventure. It isn’t that they are purposely keeping a secret out of shame, but these things aren’t important enough to mention. Regional knowledge can fall under this category since it wouldn’t come up outside of specific situations. Nobody is angry about the ‘secret’ here because it doesn’t do any damage before or after its revelation.
Fear/Shame-Induced
This one is fairly common and can go either way with hurting the group. The premise is that there is a dark secret the character fears others knowing, especially after they have found a place to belong. For example, the hero who comes from a family of villains might do this. It can backfire when they bring extra attention and threats to the group, who don’t know what is going on. The revelation can be met with shock, a sudden loss of trust, and confusion. Yet, this most often results in the character proving they aren’t like their family and solidifying their role in the group. So, one could see this as a predominantly positive secret situation.
Greed-Induced
Definitely a destructive secret since this is intentional and comes from a darker part of the soul. This can cover a character who takes a powerful artifact, money, or an essential item without telling anyone. Problems occur because of this action either because other people want it or there are challenges it could help with, but it wasn’t used. Many times, the character knows they shouldn’t have or keep the item to themselves, but they do it anyway. The revelation can, and usually does, break the group in a way that the secret holder is ostracized. If not kicked out right away, they are not fully trusted until they get some redemption.
Unknown Secret
This is a weird one that just came to mind. A character has a secret, but they don’t realize it’s a secret. They might have some information or an item that they feel is mundane, but is really important. So, they don’t realize they are keeping a big secret from the rest of the group. It usually stems from ignorance or innocence. Once the revelation happens, there can be some anger from the others. It has to be made clear that the character had no idea they were doing anything wrong. That way, the group isn’t shattered, but they might be more ‘parent-like’ with their friend.
Dark Secret
Feel like this is mandatory since people love using the term. It can probably be considered the same as ‘fear/shame’ though. There could be a slight alteration on some of them though. Typically, a dark secret is one where the character doesn’t want people to know because they are ashamed or afraid of the consequences. Now, I have seen some uses where the character keeps the dark secret because they know it will not be accepted by the others. They aren’t ashamed of it. They simply know it isn’t seen as a positive by society, so they keep quiet. When revealed, it can cause a big mess with the character refusing to be sorry since they have rationalized it.
Bright Secret?
Not sure what to call the opposite of a ‘dark secret’. These are harmless ones that will cause joy or help when revealed. Somebody caring a powerful, one-use weapon for an emergency is an example. They don’t say anything because they don’t want to be forced to use it for a situation they feel isn’t worth it. Might be a little annoyance at the use, but a simple ‘I cannot use it again’ explanation can fix that. I would say surprise parties, gifts, and other positives can fall into this category.
For those of us unfortunate enough to live under the rule of Daylight Savings Time, we end up turning our clocks back an hour. Supposed to save money, help farmers, reduce accidents, or some reason that seems to change every few years. All I know is that I have to change my car clock and it’s a sign that darkness is going to start in around 4:30. The park will close around 5, which means months of having to go to the mall if I want to take a walk after work. The onset of seasonal depression starts appearing for many as well and that pretty much turns the next 5 months into a miserable experience. Here are some memes from a Google Image Search:
First, I want to post the link to my son’s Chorus trip fundraiser. They are performing at Disney World next year, so they’re doing a fundraiser. It’s just a donation thing, but I figure I would post the link and see what happens:
Now . . . What in the world happened this week? It was a full week of work, but things were crazy with Halloween yesterday. That holiday always creates a weird vibe in schools because the kids are gearing up for the fun. Many teachers are too, so it can become a clash of energies on the actual day. It’s definitely been worse though. A bunch of other stressful work-related things probably added to the vibe. At least we’re doing a virtual day next Tuesday, which can help.
Writing-wise, I did manage to get one section of Darwin & the Joy Path completed while my son hung out with friends. That was last weekend, so the week wasn’t nearly as kind. I was hoping to get some writing done on Wednesday, but a storm on Thursday forced me to use that time for errands. The actual day of the storm would have been good for writing, but I . . . was driving through it for an appointment. Let’s just say things weren’t on my side once Monday hit.
To be fair, I couldn’t wrap my head around the last section of Chapter 6. I realized I had dangerous trees again. Yes, they’re traveling through an eerie forest where there are barely any animals. Yes, there is fog everywhere and trees make for good obstacles. I just can’t keep having them fight the damn things, so I needed to come up with a new threat to close this part of the story. Didn’t help that a character basically shows up and is no longer needed, which is how it was supposed to go. Only I made an actual history for this tertiary character and they don’t even get to speak. This one is entirely on me, but I have a brain itch to still find a way to get their history noted in the text.
My writing goal is to get through Chapters 6 and 7 this weekend. It’s possible since 7 is a downtime chapter after an action-packed one. Not that it’s boring, but it has more dialog and a set up for Chapter 8. If I’m lucky, I might be able to start 8 and even get a little written during the week. I won’t get my hopes up though.
Starting to wonder about my writing style too. I keep wondering if it’s more simplistic than when I started. Can’t exactly explain it. I still use as many big words as I can without losing comprehension, but my stories kind of feel lower key. Trying to find a way to explain this without making it sound like a negative. Almost like the stories I’m writing might be better for teenagers and those who aren’t hardcore fantasy fans. Maybe those who simply want a story to casually read and relax with. Pure escapism that can trigger deeper thought if the reader wishes it to.
I think one source of fear is that I see so many readers attack stories for not being deep enough or being ‘standard’. Everyone wants something new and surprising, but go out of their way to find a reason for a story to not be categorized as such. Since my stories are follow traditional hero patterns with character-specific twists, I think I’d be an easy target for this criticism. On the other hand, my son has been talking about what he likes about Beginning of a Hero and the simplicity is kind of what is drawing him along. He isn’t getting confused by the story and characters. Then again, he isn’t very far into the story, so that could change. Maybe I’m looking at him as an example of what my target audience should be. Not that I know what that would be.
Next week shouldn’t be too busy and I might be able to sneak some writing in on a few days. I won’t hold my breath though. The week after is going to be a wash because it’s the BIG Pokemon event for the season, which will run from Monday through Sunday night. I will accept that right now and not get my hopes up. Anyway, I’ll try to focus on January blog posts (minus the Tuesday stuff that I haven’t figured out yet) and working in my notebooks. Need to make some progress, right?
Goals of the week:
Write more of Darwin & the Joy Path.
Clean the bathroom.
Spend time with son.
Don’t eat too much leftover candy.
Catch Pokemon.
Improve sleep since my anxiety has been causing issues.
Puzzles!
Figure out a show I can watch.
Finish more January blog posts.
Son’s Halloween costume since I apparently never posted it before:
It’s the usual today. Bunch of memes I found on Google and a music video of one of my favorite Halloween songs. Took a lot to hold off on it until today.
Coming to the end of the ghost month, I think I’ll open the floor to people. If you don’t believe in ghosts then don’t feel obligated to answer or give a long comment about why they don’t exist. I’ve walked into that one before and it isn’t fun. This is all about fun.
What is your favorite ghost story?
Have you ever had a paranormal experience? (Think hard)
Legends of Windemere 