(no subject)
So I've been NaNoing away and I came to the realization that one of my character's flaws is that he's a hero. Now, I realized that this sounds very much like a Mary Sue (or in this case Gary Stu) flaw, but as I looked at it deeper, it really is a dangerous and devastating flaw. The character, Kale, is perfectly mortal. He has no extraneous special abilities. The only thing you could say is unique about him is that he's descended from the Morrigan, but there's at least a hundred generations between him and her. So, for all intents and purposes he's normal, human, and an average warrior.
Yet, he has this stupid, stubborn need to go out and help people. He is willing to go into deep fairy to find the Deep Hunt which is created by the nightmares of the fey without a second's thought. The other person who is willing to do this is a powerful mage, one of the strongest living or ever will live. The mage is probably the only one who could survive it. But Kale is going to jump head first, sword swinging (metaphorically) into this and not look back or regret it.
I think it would be more of a Mary Sue flaw if he was a magically or super-sphesul individual, where there wasn't any real risk for him.
But the fact that he's so completely idiotic at doing this. He has such a drive, a blinding need to do these things and act like a hero, even if he doesn't think he is, is more than dangerous, it can be down right deadly for him and the people around him who will have to rescue him when something goes bad.
Meanwhile: I broke 50k yesterday.
NEVER AGAIN. I did like 14k in three days and my left arm is KILLING ME. I'm still going to work on it. The book isn't done yet. It's actually ... only part of the 50k cause I decided about 15k in (after two starts) that I was writing something completely different than what I set out to do. It was just supposed to be a scene. 34k words later.. It's a lot of scenes.
Right.
Yet, he has this stupid, stubborn need to go out and help people. He is willing to go into deep fairy to find the Deep Hunt which is created by the nightmares of the fey without a second's thought. The other person who is willing to do this is a powerful mage, one of the strongest living or ever will live. The mage is probably the only one who could survive it. But Kale is going to jump head first, sword swinging (metaphorically) into this and not look back or regret it.
I think it would be more of a Mary Sue flaw if he was a magically or super-sphesul individual, where there wasn't any real risk for him.
But the fact that he's so completely idiotic at doing this. He has such a drive, a blinding need to do these things and act like a hero, even if he doesn't think he is, is more than dangerous, it can be down right deadly for him and the people around him who will have to rescue him when something goes bad.
Meanwhile: I broke 50k yesterday.
NEVER AGAIN. I did like 14k in three days and my left arm is KILLING ME. I'm still going to work on it. The book isn't done yet. It's actually ... only part of the 50k cause I decided about 15k in (after two starts) that I was writing something completely different than what I set out to do. It was just supposed to be a scene. 34k words later.. It's a lot of scenes.
Right.