Writerly Ways

[cornerofmadness]

It will be a relatively short one as I wrestle with the my limitations. While I'm fond with the opening I put up for the faux-Viking story, most of the scenes in my head are not so much plot points as they are character development ones.

That's not my problem. Actually it's two novels I'm reading, both fantasy, both about warring kingdoms etc etc and I realize...I just don't like the subject matter. I didn't mind back in my LoTR days but I was blissfully unaware of the harshness of the real world then and I'm wondering if that's my problem. Or have I just seen it too many times? I hated Jim Butcher's attempt at it for example. I barely made it through book one of his fantasy series and I really like Butcher's work.

evil_little_dog pointed out that having a mage trying to take over has been done to death. My response to that was one kingdom attacking another is practically the oldest story in the book (looking at you Gilgamesh). But as I was dragging through these novels last night (I won them in exchange for a reviewer) I realized I have almost never finished a story I've started with warring kingdoms as a plot. I did finish one with evil_little_dog but not the rest of the books in the series and it has now languished untouched for over a decade. The second series we started was never finished. Voluntary Nightmare has been dead in the water for a couple years. Another had a piece of it published as an erotic short with Circlet Press years ago and that's the last I ever touched it. Echoes of the Dying which wasn't even a full on battle book died the moment nano ended.

I'm not sure I can finish a war-based story. So that leaves me with this question and I'm throwing it to you all because you have been so helpful in the past, what else could these two countries be doing (other than renewing their alliance broken a decade ago because that's not inherently that interesting but will be happening as a side story) that would involve battle scenes at least? I'd hate to waste a perfectly good little Berserker but I'm not really up for a full on battle book because I know I have very little to bring new to the genre.

I know I danced around this a few weeks ago but I'm hoping someone will have some ideas, go peek at the character posted up a couple days ago etc. Thanks!

Also I just found out I did NOT place in the Rainbow awards. And you know what, I'm okay with that. I was a finalist with my first novel and that's really enough. Also, and I admit it, I'm okay because the one part of my competition did not place either. I would have been upset if that story had because I read it and wow....I couldn't believe it finaled.

I got BOTH of my tests done and graded all the papers for parasitology. I even pulled some of the questions on something we ran out of time for off my other test. I have @ 25 more papers to grade by tuesday but now it's looking more doable.

And I thought house hunting sucked here hysterically bad.

Yearly word count -

118659 / 125000
(94.93%)

Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Teh demon in the house. THE DEMON ON THE KITCHEN TABLE IN THE HOUSE. *dies*

There's so much to giggle at there.

Wars are hard. It's hard to keep up the impetus and yes, what more can be said? War is bad, right? Unless you're trying to protect your country. Or. You know.

I'm glad you were a finalist and that other person didn't win.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I know, hysterical.

I started thinking on a prelude to war. Maybe the mage has found a way to trigger a serial killer-esque behavoirs in certain people. I was thinking on the terror Jack the ripper or the hillside strangler caused. Imagine that in a place that also has magic (sort of like what Rowling did with Voldemort).

the mage could be weakening the moral and creating these distractions to great high stress and the ability to move her armies later. how's that sound?

and thanks

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

That, I really like. That sounds like an original idea, and very different.

You're welcome!

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Oh good. I didn't even picture Voldemort until I typed it here but yeah, how afraid they all were or the Salem witch trials etc.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

*nod*

[silvrethorn.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the boredom with warring-kingdom stories has to do with _why_ they're warring. Usually, it's because a good little kingdom has some evil, power-mad neighbor. Why is the neighboring king/mage evil? Well...because. Which is boring. Just my opinion, but if you had two kingdoms locked in a death struggle over something like an ecological issue--Kingdom A dammed Kingdom B's main water supply, for example, or is poaching their forests because Kingdom A are wasteful idiots and deforested their own lands, then the conflict would be more relatable. Both kingdoms are fighting for their survival, both have ample and believable justification for their actions, but the reader is going to side with the faction that's fighting to save its rivers and trees against the environmental rapists. Now THAT would be an interesting war story. The movie _Elysium_ already tackled the issue of one "kingdom" denying another access to health care, but disease and healing could be another direction to come from if addressed properly. Or famine. Or the mining rights to some special gem or metal. We have too many wars being waged over longstanding grudges in our own reality for that to be useful as a plot device, so scratch that one.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent point (Points to my answer to ELD, I was noodling around with it a bit). In this it would be easy to see why, she'd want to push south for more arable lands and better sea ports

[sillymagpie.livejournal.com]

Lord, those photos are hilarious and scary at the same time.

Nations battle for all kinds of reasons. How much of a battle do you need? In Arizona I keep waiting for some boneheaded border skirmish to break out at the US/Mexico border, what with vigilantes trying to keep out them "furriners" and whatnot. IMHO, most wars start because of greed, territorialism, and/or fear and prejudice, no matter what the "official" reasons are. Economics and expansionism. People fleeing disaster vs. countries they are fleeing into. And like that.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

they are

those are the reasons I'm tired of seeing. Far too common. I just put up some new thoughts and I don't know how much I need. I would love to do very little. I find fight scenes tedious to read

[sillymagpie.livejournal.com]

How much battling do you need? Are we talking skirmishes or giant battlefields? Nations or small groups? What function does the battle serve in the plot?

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

none of the above really.

guerilla stuff at most. and I've found a way to go nowhere near any of it, I think. that would be the best. Avoids all the boring fantasy cliches. The battles then would be against any magical things that get sent against them

[sillymagpie.livejournal.com]

That sounds best if there is no overarching need for battles (and all that background) in the plot. Or you could have the equivalent of the Hatfields vs. McCoys...running afoul of generational revenge killings.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

there might not be. I'm looking for something newer. I think what I posted in tonight's post might be that if I can pull it off