Problem Character(s) - My writing weaknesses
Whimsy is a hard thing for me to write. I realized this tonight working on one of the stories in My novel the Immortality Syndrome. In particular, the character of Stanley Icarus needs a bit of tinkering. Reading this novel, there was a sense of bleakness that needed a little balance to it, and Stanley in my mind was the key to this. I loved the whole idea of exploring how to men can be monsters and vice versa, and Stanley was a monster.
So my problems are three fold.
1) Giving Stanley a more monstrous yet fitting way for him to kill. - A friend considered his first method kind of lame, and after careful thought I agreed. I looked at what I wanted the character to do, and his role later and came up with something that fits him. Considering his ideas on how to use the virus later on, this is MUCH better. This problem is solved. One person who read it laughed. She was very morbid.
2) Make the transition between his monstrous self to something more whimsical, yet without making him a caricature - this is my biggest challenge with him. Joy by far is the hardest thing (for me at least)to write. Tragic, depressing scenes are easy. Humor is more difficult, but again not impossible. Joy without making him unrealistic is my balancing act here. I'm reading Chapter 3 and realize that I'm going to have to work on this carefully.
3) Word choices/tenses - I think when problem 2 is solved, this will be answered as well. The tense part is already much more consistent but makes me realize the gaps I have to fill in problem 2.
The only other character that I'm having problems with is Kristin McFarland.
Her problem is much simpler for me to identify.
1) I hate her ending. There's too much of a gap between where I leave her, and where she ends up in the Coda of the story. That will be fixed. Funny how as the only child character in the book, her story is the darkest in many ways of all of them.
This insight right here on my character makes me realize something about DC writers in teen comics. I understand why for the most part teen books are quite dark - especially with the female characters.
Wow. Revolutionary, I know. I mean this is the same medium that women die by being stuffed in Refrigerators. Or raped by evil villains. Or turned evil on a moment's notice. Come to think of it, it's not that revolutionary.
Most of the writers (or the editors, depending on how heavy handed the editors are with the storytelling) don't understand teenagers - especially female ones. Supergirl, Batgirl, Mary Marvel, and Ravager are examples of this. (Note: I haven't read Supergirl lately, so this may have changed for her. Who knows?)
Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant teen characters and books out there and writers that treat these characters with respect and tell their stories well. Gail Simone is one of the few writers that does a good job. Black Alice is a great example of a great female antagonist who happens to be a teenager. Geoff Johns is another great example of someone who can do it well. (Stargirl, Cyclone in JSA and he did write teen titans.) John Rogers was brilliant with Blue Beetle. Finally, Jay Faerber does a solid job. Check out Dynamo 5 from Image. It's a great modern comic told in a very old school way.
I bring this up because of Teen Titans I think. I loved Geoff's run on the book. I think Adam's was going to be quite enjoyable, and thought Sean would have done a great job. Sadly, Teen Titans hasn't been anywhere near as enjoyable after the return of Titans Tomorrow storyline. Between that, Supergirl being protrayed as villain, slut or hero (depending on the writer) and Mary Marvel's dark fall in Countdown (shudder) I just have to conclude that teenagers aren't understood in DC - which in my opinion would be a much better hook for me to read a teen book than say, what's going on right now. I think there's a great story with teens not being understood by their adult counterparts. DC had a great formula with this book with coming of age, and the gap between generations, and it's blown right now.
Whew...what a tangent.
I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on this myself. It's easy to criticize - another to do it well yourself. In my case, I understand some of the teenage thing; it wasn't that long ago for me. But the woman thing...not so much. I have reasons why my story with her is so dark in particular, but I don't pretend to understand some of the things girls go through.
I have a brilliant solution to this: Talk to women about it. Who knows better about women than women?
I understand why it takes Martin years to finish one of his books in his fantasy world. Juggling characters like this is very hard. I don't have quite as many main viewpoints (nor do I feel I accomplish it with the same skill he has), It's a juggling act to make each character as strong as possible and keeping the book consistant. That's a very hard trick, and I understand why so few writers try it.
Okay, I've blabbed enough. Back to work.
JP
So my problems are three fold.
1) Giving Stanley a more monstrous yet fitting way for him to kill. - A friend considered his first method kind of lame, and after careful thought I agreed. I looked at what I wanted the character to do, and his role later and came up with something that fits him. Considering his ideas on how to use the virus later on, this is MUCH better. This problem is solved. One person who read it laughed. She was very morbid.
2) Make the transition between his monstrous self to something more whimsical, yet without making him a caricature - this is my biggest challenge with him. Joy by far is the hardest thing (for me at least)to write. Tragic, depressing scenes are easy. Humor is more difficult, but again not impossible. Joy without making him unrealistic is my balancing act here. I'm reading Chapter 3 and realize that I'm going to have to work on this carefully.
3) Word choices/tenses - I think when problem 2 is solved, this will be answered as well. The tense part is already much more consistent but makes me realize the gaps I have to fill in problem 2.
The only other character that I'm having problems with is Kristin McFarland.
Her problem is much simpler for me to identify.
1) I hate her ending. There's too much of a gap between where I leave her, and where she ends up in the Coda of the story. That will be fixed. Funny how as the only child character in the book, her story is the darkest in many ways of all of them.
This insight right here on my character makes me realize something about DC writers in teen comics. I understand why for the most part teen books are quite dark - especially with the female characters.
Wow. Revolutionary, I know. I mean this is the same medium that women die by being stuffed in Refrigerators. Or raped by evil villains. Or turned evil on a moment's notice. Come to think of it, it's not that revolutionary.
Most of the writers (or the editors, depending on how heavy handed the editors are with the storytelling) don't understand teenagers - especially female ones. Supergirl, Batgirl, Mary Marvel, and Ravager are examples of this. (Note: I haven't read Supergirl lately, so this may have changed for her. Who knows?)
Don't get me wrong, there are brilliant teen characters and books out there and writers that treat these characters with respect and tell their stories well. Gail Simone is one of the few writers that does a good job. Black Alice is a great example of a great female antagonist who happens to be a teenager. Geoff Johns is another great example of someone who can do it well. (Stargirl, Cyclone in JSA and he did write teen titans.) John Rogers was brilliant with Blue Beetle. Finally, Jay Faerber does a solid job. Check out Dynamo 5 from Image. It's a great modern comic told in a very old school way.
I bring this up because of Teen Titans I think. I loved Geoff's run on the book. I think Adam's was going to be quite enjoyable, and thought Sean would have done a great job. Sadly, Teen Titans hasn't been anywhere near as enjoyable after the return of Titans Tomorrow storyline. Between that, Supergirl being protrayed as villain, slut or hero (depending on the writer) and Mary Marvel's dark fall in Countdown (shudder) I just have to conclude that teenagers aren't understood in DC - which in my opinion would be a much better hook for me to read a teen book than say, what's going on right now. I think there's a great story with teens not being understood by their adult counterparts. DC had a great formula with this book with coming of age, and the gap between generations, and it's blown right now.
Whew...what a tangent.
I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on this myself. It's easy to criticize - another to do it well yourself. In my case, I understand some of the teenage thing; it wasn't that long ago for me. But the woman thing...not so much. I have reasons why my story with her is so dark in particular, but I don't pretend to understand some of the things girls go through.
I have a brilliant solution to this: Talk to women about it. Who knows better about women than women?
I understand why it takes Martin years to finish one of his books in his fantasy world. Juggling characters like this is very hard. I don't have quite as many main viewpoints (nor do I feel I accomplish it with the same skill he has), It's a juggling act to make each character as strong as possible and keeping the book consistant. That's a very hard trick, and I understand why so few writers try it.
Okay, I've blabbed enough. Back to work.
JP