Flash Fiction: Mages in Midtown

The moon would be full tonight, and that always brought out the freaks. For most folks it was a good night to stay in. For my brothers and I, it was the perfect night to go hunting. I donned my wool cloak to ward off the October evening air. It was close enough to Halloween that nobody would give me a second look for my attire. More importantly it allowed me to carry everything I might need without drawing attention. My brothers were waiting for me in the lobby of the apartment building. I recognized Gavin’s lanky frame leaning against the wall idly twirling his cane right away.

“Are you ready to go, Sorin?” asked Tyler, bouncing over to me with wide eyed enthusiasm.

“Well look who finally showed up,” said Gavin with a smirk.

“I’m two minutes late, so sue me,” I shot back. I twirled my cloak for dramatic effect as I glided past them and out into the night.

“So what are we going after tonight?” asked Tyler.

“‘Wolves will be out in force tonight, might be best to avoid the park,” said Gavin.

“Ooh, what about the Vamps?”

“After our raid on Xander’s lair last month they’ve been laying low.”

“I already have a target if you two are finished,” I said.

“We await your word, fearless leader.”

“I’ve heard rumors of a rogue mage, someone dabbling in the dark arts.”

“How do we find him?”

“That’s where you come in, Tyler,” I said, turning to my youngest sibling.

“I’m on it.” He closed his eyes and brought his hands together, palms inward. “Corpus canis.”

There was a flash in my mind’s eye and in Tyler’s place stood a large hound.

“You should be able to sense residual dark magic,” said Gavin, coaching him as he went sniffing down the street. As we neared the corner he barked once, signalling he had scented our quarry.

“He’s getting much better,” said Gavin, dropping back to walk beside me.

“He didn’t even need a circle to focus the spell this time,” I agreed. At fourteen, Tyler was displaying talent for the Arts far beyond his years. I had never been fond of transformations but Tyler was a natural.

“Have you got any new tricks we should know about?”

“A new blasting rod to focus my fire magic,” I said, lifting my cloak to reveal the short oaken staff hanging from my belt by a loop of leather.

“Oooh, fancy,” he said. To anyone else it would have sounded like sarcasm but I could hear the tinge of envy. Gavin was the only one of us born without any magic. A low growl drew our attention to Tyler.

His legs went stiff and his hackles rose.

“What is it?” asked Gavin.

“You know he can’t answer you,” I said, reaching out with my mind’s eye for any signs of the supernatural. I felt a flickering presence from the mouth of the alley to our right. I could make out the form of a homeless man crouching next to a trash bin.

“Is he our guy?” asked Gavin.

“I’m not sure he is a guy at all,” I muttered. Tyler surged forward, baying a challenge.

“Tyler, wait!” yelled Gavin.

The man shrugged as if to remove his coat, but more than his coat slid from his shoulders. The form of the man melted away to reveal a much larger form covered in dark, pebbly skin. It stood on short stocky legs with arms nearly dragging the pavement. Tyler latched onto a leg, trying to pierce the leathery hide.

“Bad doggy,” it grunted. The leg jerked out, flinging Tyler off with a yelp. I reached for my blasting rod and Gavin drew a slim silver blade from the head of his cane.

“My turn.” I reached out for the flow of energy around us, gathering it and forcing it through the runes etched into my blasting rod. “Pyro!”

A stream of flame bathed the street in crimson as it streaked towards the creature. It struck home, splashing across its chest and forcing its back to the wall. After a moment I allowed myself to inhale, releasing the spell.

“Ogres are fire proof,” said Gavin over his shoulder.

“I couldn’t tell if it was an ogre or a troll,” I replied. “Are you alright, Tyler?”

The hound regained its feet and reared back, shedding its fur and returning to the familiar form of my brother.

“Yeah, I thought I could get him before he changed,” he said.

“It wasn’t a real transformation, only shedding an illusion,” said Gavin, stepping forward. “You’re short for an ogre, aren’t you?”

Its fist shot out in reply, as Gavin had anticipated. No matter how many times I saw it, the way he moved always amazed me. It was like a dance, fluid but tightly controlled; each movement designed to carry him out of harm’s way and bring his blade to bear. His sword opened up cuts on the ogre’s forearms and shoulders before a stomp rippled through the pavement and disrupted Gavin’s movement.

“Corpus tigris!” Tyler fell to all fours again, this time sporting the striped pelt of a Siberian tiger. He leapt right over Gavin, digging his claws into the ogre’s shoulder.

“Keep him busy!” I yelled, trading my blasting rod for a lump of chalk. My brothers harassed the ogre while I circled them, doubled over, drawing a circle on the pavement. They deftly angled it away from the wall into the center of the circle as soon as I closed it. “Get clear!” I didn’t wait for a response. I reached out for magic again, this time seeking the low steady power of the earth itself. Gaia, the Earth Mother would grant me the power to purify this unnatural breed of magic from this world.

Cleansing lightning leapt from the chalk circle, binding the ogre fast. The light glowed brighter searing into its flesh. I narrowed my focus, putting the full force of my will into the spell. I could sense the dark energy being dispelled.

“Sorin, watch out!” The ogre flailed, shattering several of the chains of light that bound him. His next movement carried him straight towards me. I reached for more magic, trying to shape a shield between me and the beast, but there wasn’t enough time. There was a flash of movement between our bodies, then something hit me at waist level, knocking me to one side. Tyler’s furry bulk had pushed me to safety, giving Gavin’s blade a straight shot at the ogre’s heart.

All was still for a moment that stretched for hours, then Gavin withdrew his blade and the creature crumpled to the ground. Pebbly skin bubbled and foamed, hissing and popping as it dissolved. After a few seconds a cloud of steam was all that remained of the beast.

“Are you okay?” asked a now human Tyler.

“I am, thanks,” I said.

“He shouldn’t have been able to break free from that spell,” said Gavin, cleaning the dark blood from his blade.

“Not without help,” I added.

“From who?” asked Tyler.

“From our mysterious magical friend,” I said with a wicked grin.

“At least we’re on the right track,” said Gavin.

“Now what?” asked Tyler.

“The night is young, the hunt continues.”

 

To be continued…?

Merry Christmas! (aka I’m being lazy this week)

In celebration of the Christmas holiday I won’t be posting a blog entry this week. But don’t worry, I’ll be back next week with a new flash fiction piece for you. Enjoy your holiday!

Confessions of a novelist: I might hate my MC

So I was reading through the first chapters of my work, trying to get a feel for where my characters started and how to bring that spirit into the latest chapters (totally not putting off actually writing said newest chapters) when I started to take a closer look at my MC (that’s main character, for those not privy to the lingo as I was only a few months ago). His name is Roger. He’s kind of a big deal. Without giving too much away, he has abilities beyond those of a normal human and he is the culmination of a secret government project decades in the making. He is also a bit of an ass.

I knew when I first started writing him that he would have an attitude. He was cocky, used to doing things his own way, and was critical of methods different from his own. I had a good idea of who he would be at the start of the story, and I knew I left him a lot of room to grow. What I didn’t realize at the time was that he was someone I didn’t really like. If I knew him in real life, there’s a very sim chance we’d get along.

If you hated him, then why did you write him? I’m getting to that, impatient hypothetical audience member. Until this week it had never occurred to me that I didn’t like Roger as a person. He is fun for me to write and he is the living embodiment of my sarcastic sense of humor. He also flies in the face of some of the basic values I hold dear like listening to others, empathizing with them and being genuinely curious about others and the world around me.

I can’t give a concrete answer as to why I wrote someone like him into my story as the protagonist and narrator. Maybe I wanted to write someone who was very different from myself. Maybe I wanted to justify how someone could come to view the world the way he does. Maybe my vindictive side is coming out as I plan to break him down and shatter his worldview…maybe we’re not as different as I thought.

But here’s my point, or at least a point to be extracted from my rambling; the characters that are the most interesting are the ones who are far from being perfect.

As a writer I’m challenging myself to write a jerk that people can’t help but like and root for when the chips are down. Especially when you’re all out of salsa.

In my humble opinion, perfect characters are incredibly boring. I want someone who makes mistakes, who clashes with others and who is sometimes his own worst enemy. Maybe that’s why I’m writing him the way he is. Or maybe I’m reading too much into this. *Gasp* Over analyzing? That’s so unlike me!

Even as I write about him I feel like I’m not doing him justice, but that’s to be expected. He’s not a jerk just for the hell of it. Like any person he has layers, motives, hopes, dreams, and high powered weapons (you all have those right?). He can’t be reduced to a short blurb any more than you could fully describe yourself in a few sentences. As I write Roger I’m getting to know him better. Maybe by the end he’ll become someone I genuinely like. Or maybe he’ll still be a jerk. Either way he’ll be a jerk I like writing, even if I don’t like him.

An Alpha needs a Beta…Reader that is

For those who don’t know (much like myself before I got serious about writing) beta readers are basically mini-editors for your work (and not those little fish in bowls at the pet store who have mastered the English language). They will read through your chapters or manuscript and give you feedback. If you’re lucky it will be useful feedback, but I’ll come back to that. Now I can’t speak for all writers, but I know when a work is still in its early stages showing it to someone else can be pretty daunting.

Your story is young, unrefined, and not savvy enough to refuse candy from strangers. Beta readers can be the Mr. Miyagi that helps them become better and stronger.

Self-editing is a vital process, but it can only take you so far. Which brings me to my next point. How convenient!

A computer program can pick out most spelling and grammatical errors for you, so why do you need a person? Perspective, that’s why. What, that single word doesn’t lay it all out for you? Very well, then I’ll elaborate. An author knows their story inside and out. Every detail, planned or not, is swimming around in their head. Every bit of backstory, every motive, and every step that is building towards the climax. Unless they are telepathic, your readers will not benefit from this knowledge. They will only see what is there. They will have their own expectations about where the story is going and how things fit together. Beta readers can share that perspective with you and therefore help you refine it in ways you couldn’t do on your own. They can provide another eye that doesn’t suffer from being too close to the story.

So beta readers are basically magical beings with powers mere mortal writers could never posses, right? Well not quite. Like everything, some are better than others, and most of the time “better” isn’t an objective measure. It is very much a function of personality and preference. Some will nit pick details, some will sniff out plot holes and others will analyze characters, for example, and all of these can be good things if that’s what the writer needs (and wants). Writers need to be clear if they’re looking for feedback on something specific and consequently need to be open minded enough to consider what the beta reader has to say. The one thing I’ve found that almost always makes for a “bad” beta reader is someone who reads your story, then tells you how you should make it better. To be clear, this is not pointing out where something doesn’t work; this is when they tell you “it would be better if…” or “you should do it this way…” A good beta reader should help you to tell your story, not try to change it into the story they want it to be.

While it can be tempting to ask friends and family, ask yourself if they can give objective feedback. Usually the answer is no. I got very lucky and found an exception there. My best beta reader is an old friend of mine, but he is more than willing to question and challenge me. Most of the time you’ll have to invest time in getting to know other writers (and offering to beta read for one another is a nice incentive) to find a good team of betas. And yes, I said team. It’s not enough to have one. I would say three to five is ideal. If you only have one, you have no way of knowing if the issue they’re bringing up is really an issue or just a personal preference of theirs. If you hear the same thing from several betas it might mean you need to take a closer look at something.

So that’s my stance on beta readers. They can be magical allies if you take the time to find a good team that works with and for you and your work. Or they can be frustrating, time consuming and soul sucking. Maybe not that bad, but I enjoy the image of Nazgul-esque creatures scratching notes on a manuscript and hissing their critiques. So I leave you with that image. And also this one.

Image url: http://jenelleschmidt.com/beta-readers-wanted/

 

Hard Work Builds Character…Right?

What makes a good character? Well the heart and liver are pretty important organs so you should…I’ll bet that’s not where you thought this post was going. While I contend those organs are pretty important, that’s probably not what the reader is interested in (my apologies to all the surgeons out there I just offended). Characters are a central piece of just about every story, and they can lift a story beyond the limits of its plot or drag a great story down a few pegs. This is one of those things where most readers will be able to say so and so is a great character, but may not be able to tell you why. So what exactly makes a good character? Truth be told, I don’t know. But I can tell you what I think about character building as a reader and a writer just experienced enough that he feels qualified to give his opinion.

My current work in progress is written from the first person, which presents its own advantages and challenges. For example if I want to characterize someone as a jerk my MC can simply say “That guy is a jerk.” It is his opinion of them, and as we are riding along in his head for the story, it works. On the flip side of that, all we have are the MC’s opinions and views of other characters to go on. If my MC is convinced someone is a jerk, it’s not easy to paint them as sympathetic to the reader without my MC becoming a cold-hearted bastard. In this situation sometimes a character’s actions have to do the talking for them. This holds true with all characters, but even more so when the reader won’t get to hear what they are thinking.

At this point it becomes a game of balancing several elements of interaction; natural interactions (people have a way of talking naturally), plot driven interactions (sometimes a conversation or encounter needs to happen for the sake of the plot), and interactions specifically to shape a character (when you can indulge in a conversation that shows the reader who someone really is or how they think). I could add world building, humor and several other things to this list, but you get the idea. I think the best scenes accomplish several of these at once, but sometimes one will take priority, as it should.

A second way to build character is backstory. Everyone has one. As the writer you should probably know what they are, at least in general terms. The reader however, does not need to know every piece of it for every character. In my earlier writing I felt an almost crippling need to share a character’s backstory so the reader would understand why they are doing what they are doing. It was a noble ideal, but it resulted in far too many diversions from the plot and a lot of space that could have been used in more interesting ways. I try to think of it like getting to know someone in real life. Depending on the setting, you usually see their personality in action first. Then frivolous bits of small talk gradually leading up to more important parts of their life. They don’t come out and tell you their life’s story from the get go.

 

Finally, some characters are mostly formed in the writer’s head before pen is set to paper. Perhaps they have been taking up real estate in the writer’s brain for so long that they simply know them very well or perhaps they are based on a very clear model. I’ve had a few of those but I more often find that even the characters with the most thought and design behind them will wind up very different once they are actually in the story. This leads me to the counterpoint which is letting characters develop organically rather than having a set image and plan for them. This one is as much a preference of the author as anything else. For me a basic character sketch is enough to start with, then as time goes on they start to feel more organic. They take on mannerisms, opinions and relationships almost on their own (I’m still writing them, but it doesn’t feel like I’m coming up with the material, at least nearly as much). This means they start off on the flat side, but gain depth as they go. And you always have the option of going back and rewriting their earlier scenes to fit their fully developed persona after the fact.

So these are my ramblings on character development. They are not wise words from a guru on the mountain top or lessons from a trained professional (although I do live on a mountain and am technically a professional). There is no cut and dry “right” or “wrong” way to build a character. POV, your narrative style and the context of the story all factor into how characters emerge. These are just some things I have learned along my journey, and I’m sure down the line I will look back and have very different views on some of these things. At which point you will be treated to another blog post on the subject! But seriously, at the end of the day you know what works best for your writing. That may not always be what is easiest or what feels natural, but when you stumble onto something that really works for your writing, you will know it.