There were two versions of Savagery when I was outlining. One had the big villain showing up once per book before it being 18-19 chapters of brutal battling. The other was what I used instead, which turned into a deviation from Clyde’s usual adventures. Overall, I can never really tell how I did with this book.
This is the book where Clyde was meant to feel true fear and face an enemy he couldn’t easily brutalize into an early grave. Alastyre was a terrifying monster who was once human and determined to destroy all of the Dawn Fangs since Clyde nearly killed him in Loyalty. Created by Desirae and meant to be a toy, but he broke his bonds and has been lurking in the shadows until now. So, he ends up beating Clyde and taking over Nytefall where he casually beheads the rest of the cast when bored until our hero can return from his training. The training is on a magical island used by vampires of the past where he must face a series of trials and his only allies are a corpse-eating pixie and good old Lost.
Savagery was originally going to be closer to a Kaiju movie. Clyde and Alastyre would be doing their thing while events were going on until they clashed in the finale. I fell out of love with the idea when I realized it would only let me give them a single fight where Clyde would have to win. Giving them an initial encounter that Clyde loses meant I could finally give him a solo development arc. He was growing a bit, but his story was about how he didn’t want to lose control, which was hindering him for good reason. Now, I gave him a quest and a final enemy who he could unleash his full monstrous power on.
This had to be one of the hardest books to write in the series. It jumped around three stories, which were Alastyre on Nytefall with his prisoners, Mab trying to save them without getting caught, and Clyde going through his vampire tests. The first two were fairly straightforward and done to create breaks in the main story of Clyde learning his lesson. That’s where I started having trouble because I put a blunt, aggressive character into a situation that needs patience. His impulsivity for violence when stressed does create a problem and he learns some self-control, but that didn’t make guiding him through these adventures any easier.
Creating Mestra was a lot of fun. These were the vampire training grounds that could be accessed through a magical door. It crafts itself to the need of the vampire visiting, which I did to explain why those of different power levels could be challenged. So, the place was designed to push Clyde and make him learn a lesson. I did this also because he couldn’t grow physically stronger. It had to be a riddle that would enhance either his mind, personality, or senses. Didn’t really have a clear answer in mind when I started writing, which is why Clyde comes up with several wrong answers. Those were actually me throwing stuff out, having him think about it for a bit, and realizing that didn’t work either. Took a few edits to get things to work after I finally settled on what I wanted him to learn in order to beat Alastyre.
Speaking of Alastyre, he was an interesting character to write. Originally, he was going to be a vampire hunter who would show up in every volume with enhancements and always get defeated. He would inevitably become this monster and cause some trouble, but I thought it might work better to give him a single appearance and then have people forget about him. After all, Clyde didn’t remember him either. Alastyre is also the first purely physical enemy that the group has faced with everyone else being more about powers, speed, and cunning. The guy is smart, but he’s able to take a direct hit from Clyde who can shatter a mountain. Hence, why I was always thinking about fights between Godzilla and other Kaiju when these two clashed.
The part of Savagery that always irked me was the series of challenges. Don’t get me wrong. I loved writing them and I had fun figuring out how Clyde could solve each situation without resorting to punching only. The whole thing was to get his mind working and flexible again. It was simply strange to take a character who had been more about single mission stories and toss him into one where he has a gauntlet of challenges across an island. It was fairly quest adventure-like, which I hadn’t tried with this series, so it didn’t play to Clyde’s strengths. I mean, that was kind of the overall point with him needing to be out of his comfort zone. So, I might be overthinking this situation in thinking I would change the method of testing. Probably just alter a few of the challenges to make them more to his liking now that I have newer ideas.
Question time!
What is a benefit to stepping out of your comfort zone?
Is retreating from a superior enemy cowardly or smart?
What should a fighting hero have besides his physical abilities and courage?
The above characters are what prompted this week’s topic. THey are Liko and Roy from the new Pokemon series. For 25 years, we followed Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, but their story ended. Now, we have a dual protagonist system. Going by forums, it doesn’t seem to be going smoothly.
The arguments I saw at first was the Roy took a lot of screen time when promos made it appear as if Liko would be the focal point. As the series progressed, Liko ended up claiming most, some said all, of the plotlines. This pushed Roy into the background for some people and turned him into a sidekick instead of a fellow protagonist. After seeing the first 24 episodes, I can see how Roy’s high energy and confidence made him a scene stealer at the start. I can also see how Liko is being pushed ahead by being connected even to the subplot that I thought was going to be Roy’s purpose. Kind of a shame since they both are good characters.
This shows the difficulty in working with more than one protagonist. Once you lean to one side, the other one suffers and fans of that character will complain. An adjustment can make it look like it’s going in the opposite direction instead of the middle. So, you end up getting ping-ponged between your protagonists with nobody being happy because every attempt to make them even is misunderstood. A fairly easy trap to fall into if you decide to temporarily focus on one person’s story for a time. Actually, it’s inevitable because you can’t narratively run both plots at the same time unless they are intertwined to the point where they are inseparable.
I think a dual protagonist story is easier to do in a book though. With a show or movie, your time is limited to 30 minutes to 1.5-4 hours. It isn’t as much time as one would think since you have so much to do. With a book, you can use chapters to bounce between plots if you split the characters up. If they stay together, you can reveal more in narration that shows they are on the same level. As long as the reader notices there’s plenty of pages left and you’ve already avoided showing favorites, you have a lower chance of losing them. It works even better if you look at chapters as episodes to help you swap the spotlight and share the attention.
Personally, I enjoy stories with multiple heroes, but not as much when I have to write them. Legends of Windemerehad 6 champions who I managed to portray as a group, which made it feel like multiple protagonists. Yet, that required 15 books with a staggering of introductions to give each one a moment to shine. This is why I think it’s easier to do this with books than shows or movies. Even with what I did, people would claim a champion as their own and think that was the main character. This was usually Luke Callindor or Nyx with a few thinking it was Sari or Timoran. Poor Delvin and Dariana never got out of the pack. Anyway, I felt like no matter how much I tried to make them equals, a few readers will still think one is the main character.
Guess that’s the real challenge though. You have to make it clear that this is a dual protagonist story from the beginning. It won’t prevent =favoritism, but it will reduce the chances of people getting upset when their chosen hero isn’t in the spotlight for a time. A declaration makes it clear that you are following two heroes, so patience is needed to get back to the other at times. Not a perfect solution, but it’s the best I can think up since reader reactions aren’t very predictable.
I don’t know where I stumbled onto this animal, but the Addax was sitting on my list. It’s an antelope that was hunting a lot for its meat and fur. Cattle farming has taken over a lot of their habitat as well. Though, one of the biggest causes is that they were casualties of both World Wars due to their range. There are less than 500 left in the wild, which only survived because Addax can live in environments that are too harsh for humans. Many zoos have breeding programs to help create more genetic diversity and work towards replenishing the species.
Here are some Addax facts:
Both males and females have horns and shaggy manes.
They are adapted to live in the Sahara desert and can traverse sandy areas, rocky regions, coastal plains, and grasslands.
Addax have wide, flat hooves that allows them to walk on sand similar to a camel.
Their pale coats reflect sunlight, which keeps them cool.
Addax fur change color with the seasons to be lighter in summer and darker in the winter.
They receive most of their moisture from the plants they eat.
Their ability to conserve water results in dry feces and concentrated urine, so no usable water is passed.
Herds can have 5-20 members with a dominant male.
Females create a dominant hierarchy with the oldest being in charge.
Gestation is 257-264 days and usually grants only one child.
Their short legs make them very slow runners, so they can be caught by fast predators.
Addax are hunted by humans, lions, cheetah, African wild dogs, and leopards.
The heat definitely didn’t do me any favors this past week. It paired up with a bunch of appointments too, so my free time was limited. By free time, I mean for typing in edits and doing stuff with my son. Hard to get much done when you’re reeling from heat exposure and exhaustion by the end of the day. Still, I managed to make some progress in a few places.
I managed to make progress last weekend with Darwin & the Avenging Elf. I went from being near the beginning to maybe reaching the middle. I’ve got 9 more chapters worth of edits to type in, which might be doable before I go on my trip. Outside of weekends, I can really only do a chapter on Wednesdays if nothing else is going on, which is rarely the case. It’s not what I hoped the summer would be since I expected to have more freedom than when school was going on. Instead, I’m more drained than ever and it’s not looking like that’s going to change any decade soon. Starting to see why so many authors don’t get going until retirement. Then again, I don’t think I’m going to get to that point considering where society is going. Just hope that whatever cube of soylent green I’m turned into gets choked on.
I did a little work on the ‘Phi Beta Files’ outline, but that was only one morning. The ensuing mornings ended up being busier prior to the actual start than this one. I’m having a little trouble with the story structure of 10 short stories that are more sections of an over-arching tale. This is the heroes freshman year, so it’s a lot of failed training, parties, crazy antics, and introducing the pretty hefty supporting group. Another challenging aspect is that I have notes scattered about the character bios in regards to subplots, which won’t be touched on until I make stronger outlines. So, I’m being general while my mind clicks on specific stuff. Maybe I’m just rusty or no longer as creative/skilled as I once was due to stress, anxiety, brain fog, and lack of support around here.
Beyond all of that, I’ve just been trying to remain hydrated and rested. Work had some crazy days, including one that had me out in the sun a bit too long. Thankfully, that was later in the week, so I can recover this weekend. Well, there are Pokemon Go events that require walking this weekend, but we’ll see what we can do. Going down to the shore or the mall helps with keeping it cool. Definitely packing water on every outing like this morning and evening. If you haven’t guessed, I tried to take at least 30-40 minutes a day to do some Pokemon Go. Not for the game so much as to be active and get some time to either think or get time with my son.
Aside from typing in some edits, I managed to finish this and its display case last weekend:
Lego Batman Gotham City
There are a bunch of hidden compartments with characters hidden in them. I posted more pictures of it on Instagram. That was fun and now I’m working on Sauron’s Tower when I have a little time, but not enough to edit.
Can’t really remember much else that happened, but the heat could be a major reason. It’s going to be slightly better this coming week. At least, it’ll be in the 70’s when we have our field trip to the zoo. So, I won’t enter next weekend feeling like I’m a slab of overcooked bacon. Getting into more cooking too because I’m left on my own a bunch. Sweet and sour meatball subs will be godsend because of the amount of leftovers, which gives me a few lunches. Same with the penne in homemade vodka sauce that I’ll make next weekend and try not to finish over the course of a day. Hopefully, I can slip at least one more chapter edit into my schedule. Be nice to finish it all next weekend, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
I’ve never felt so busy and yet made so little progress during a summer. Wish I knew what was causing the issue. I mean, I worked last summer and was still able to write an entire book on nights and weekends. There do seem to be a lot more appointments this time around. Not for me either. Guess the heatwave and this summer work being more exhausting than last year don’t help. Honestly, it’s just wearing me down and I don’t think a short trip is going to help much. It’s 4 days, but two of them are driving days, which means only 2 for relaxing and notebook work. Not even giving myself any time to relax between getting home and going back to work. Just continuing on at full-throttle with only blips of downtime.
Goals of the week:
Rest and stay cool.
Time with son.
Get some chapter edits typed in.
Cook dinners.
Extra sleep when needed.
Tinker with ‘Phi Beta Files’ if possible.
Work, which is a given.
Maybe get some quiet time at the end of each day to work on Lego set or at least stare at ceiling fan before passing out.
It’s summer and these holidays fall on the same day. Why wouldn’t I bring attention to that? Enjoy your ice cream sandwiches and peg someone in the chest with a water balloon then run away from their counterattack.
Surprisingly, all of the other water balloon memes I found were either gross or plain mean. So, videos will have to do.
Legends of Windemere 