When Inspiration Hits
Isn’t it funny how things can move along as expected only to hit a road block. That is what happened to me a couple weeks ago. I had a well outlined adventure plot and already writing the narrative. I then decided to relax to a movie I never heard of, and thoughts hit me, one after another. Not specific plot lines, but thoughts of new directions to consider. The most prominent thought came to me that I was following the wrong type of plot for what I wanted to accomplish. I broke out my research material, and scanned the different types of plots for fiction and realized I wanted to take my protagonist on a quest plot rather than an adventure plot.
I stopped writing to figure out how to make that change in my story. Generally, it wasn’t that hard. I made sure that my protagonist went from just an adventure to a plot that would assure his transformation over the length of the narrative. Making that switch did have one big change for me. The switch meant, in my mind, that the pace needed to increase almost from the beginning. I spent the next couple weeks going over my story blueprint, and compressed part of the beginning to get the feel of the story I now wanted.
Part of the re-write included altering my antagonist to a less stereotypical super villain to somewhere between an anti-hero and a villain. My antagonist still has compelling motivation, but a less one-sided bastard. There is, I hope, a side of the antagonist that is understandable even if he is still easy to hate.
I was asked what movie prompted my decision to switch plot-line and I have to admit that I was just coming down with the flu when I watched the movie, so the details are spotty. I wrote down three thoughts that the movie triggered: 1) was my protagonist sent by the gods?, 2) One night a grizzly bear attacks their camp, and 3) will my protagonist have to fight a mythological creature. As I felt better as the flu eased, those three thoughts prompted many more ideas.
I found that I reexamined every character I had created. Some became more complex and deep; others fell by the wayside, completely abandoned; yet others were put on hold, perhaps returning to the narrative in time.
As I weave the characters I have created together, I want to an approach I learn in photographic art. I can have characters that are complementary or contrasting, like colors on a wheel in Photoshop. Some characters work well together because together, they enrich each other, while other characters present like oil and water. Both comparisons give complexity of the different characters that round the relationships presented.
M. Alden Phillips
#AmWriting #writerslife #writinginspiration #mAldenPhillips
#fantasyfiction #fantasywriters #fantasystorytelling
#characterdevelopment #worldbuildinginspiration
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