Flynn Rider from Tangled
(The image has nothing to do with this. After 20 minutes of searching, I picked a random thing in the Yahoo image search that made me smirk.)
I’m not sure where the change happened with Legends of Windemere. Not with me picking random books from the series to put behind the vague links. The focus of the series diverted at some point and I think some people have picked up on it. Yes, there’s an epic quest for the champions to gain their full power in time to defeat their enemy. Yes, they are traveling along a path of destiny that is still a little vague on the details. All of that remains the same with each book having the main plot carried by a contained story. Yet, I think my focus has hoped to another rail.
That would be a big concentration on character development. Maybe it’s all in my head and there isn’t much of a different between the books. Still, I’m editing Books 9-11 and I see a difference. Just look at the titles on the two I can talk about too. ‘The Mercenary Prince’ and ‘Tribe of the Snow Tiger’! Doesn’t that just scream a focus on Delvin Cunningham and Timoran Wrath respectively. Well, that’s true. They get some much needed focus and evolution while the main plot is continued, but sometimes more of a secondary. Not saying the other characters are left out and tread water, but they don’t take as much of the spotlight.
Maybe this is how a long series can keep going without getting stale. You have the main story, but you’ve established it to the point where the readers know it will continue. So you can ease off on that while touching on the characters who carry the story. Long ago, I decided that I would write fun characters who happen to be involved in these stories. I wanted people to pick a favorite or send me a message saying they connected to one or two in particular. This may have led me to march toward an inevitable focus on character development over main story, but it feels more apparent now.
I have sensed a downside to this. With a reputation for being an adventure author, people don’t really look for evolving or deep characters. I’ve taken a few hits for having some drama or romance crop up as the heroes grow as organisms instead of bland words on the page. So there is that small issue of me creating an earlier set up for my books and gradually, I think, diverting from that. Is it a good thing? I’d like to think so because it strengthens the characters and makes them more human to me. That allows me to improve their role and actions in the main plot when that’s the only thing left for them to do.
So, what do you focus on with your stories? What about when you’re reading?
Yesterday I started naming ten reasons every writer could benefit from adding some fantasy to his or her reading list. Now, I know I’m biased. I don’t deny that. But fantasy literature really can teach us a lot about pacing, tone, character, and language, even if it’s not the only place we can go to experience examples of these things done well. Read on:
