"Hero's Quest" Update 6-27-08

Things are starting to click for me now. I can't explain it but in the last fifty or so pages, I've begun to see these characters and situations like never before. I've previously said that this first draft was liking getting to know the characters as opposed to just hearing about them from the synopsis. It's beginning to feel more and more like I've actually made this journey with them and as such, in the last fifty or so pages, when a lot of things have been put to the test, I'm seeing who these people really are. I think this bodes well for the revision. When I wrote the synopsis, I focused mainly on the story structure. Sure, I had an idea of who these people were and an idea of the world but the small details, the depth, was lacking. I set out writing HQ with just the synopsis and the hope that I'd discover these people along the way.

That's generally how I start off my projects. In the scripts for "Covers of Darkness" the characters weren't nearly as fleshed out in the early drafts as they were in the current shooting script. For better or worse, that's how I work. I discover the details as I'm writing them. I'm not one of those writers who go into a project with everything fully formed in my mind. I tend to think on paper in the early drafts, then revise them into something workable. Or at least, passable. Despite praise for my writing skills by several college professors, family and friends, there hasn't been anything done yet to convince me that I'm any good. I tend to think I am, but I know I can be better and I'm not there yet. Even if this or something else does get published, all that tells me is that I'm publishable, and I'll keeping pushing on towards "good."

But anyway, as the novel enters the third act (yes, I am there, finally), I'm beginning to get an understanding of the themes within it. When I started, I set out only to write a good story. But for a story to be good, there needs to be some unifying theme to it. I'm finally figuring out what the theme of this story is. Mainly, I think it's faith and all of her different forms. It's different for each character and everyone has a different reason driving them on, but I think that ultimately the story is about the search for faith and validation of that faith. Faith in the future, faith in family, faith in the divine, faith in one's own abilities, all of these things are tackled in the story and in revisions I'm going to keep the thematic unity more closely to the foreground of my thoughts.

Also, there's quite a bit of conflict in this book. As I'm refreshing myself with the basics of narrative conflict, I'm finding that the five basic types of conflict are covered in HQ: person vs. self, person vs. person, person vs. society, person vs. nature/environment, person vs. supernatural. As conflict tends to be the backbone of good drama, I'm glad to know that I've got pretty much all forms of it included (with the exception of person vs. technology, which I don't really touch upon).

Man, I wish I could go into more depth about these things, but that'll have to wait until the book is finished. I'm planning on writing my own breakdown and analysis of the whole piece once I finish writing it. However, I don't plan on making that public unless I'm able to get the book published. Just know that, more thought than just "Hey, I'm going to write a story!" has gone on with this project and I've been trying to analyze each part of it every step of the way in order to make the next version of it better and stronger.

One of the things I've been doing has been reading "Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson, as I've previously stated. While good, it's definitely not as tightly written at "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan, which is the kind of depth I'm striving for (if not in length - there's no way my book will be that long - then at least in description and character interaction/motivation). "Elantris" has given me hope that I too can get published (I feel I can match the quality of writing in my revisions, even if I'm aiming for "The Eye of the World"), but "The Eye of the World" is what is really inspiring me. I've gone back and reread some select chapters from that book in an effort to study Mr. Jordan and gain a better understanding of what makes his writing work so well. One of the things I've picked up on is the level of detail. He doesn't necessarily write more than I do when giving a description, but he is more specific. Oddly enough, after noticing this, I read while skimming through one of my writing books (yes, I own a couple of books on writing novels - I'm not doing this unprepared) that an author should be as specific as possible, as it paints a better picture in the readers' minds and it lends a more authoritative feel to the work.

Now, this is something I've done in some ways and others, I have not. An example I noticed with TEOTW was that Robert Jordan mentions some of the underbrush along the forest path that Rand and Tam al'Thor are walking along in the beginning. But instead of just saying "the underbrush" he takes the time to mention what kind of plants they are in that sentence. He doesn't go into great description on it anymore than if he had just said "the underbrush" other than calling the underbrush by name. It's very effective and I'll admit - with some shame - it's a step I've kind of been skipping in this first draft. Partially out of laziness and partially out of a desire just to get something down on paper with the intention of worrying about such details in a rewrite.

Those are most definitely things I'll be addressing in the next go round. I'm going to try saying more with the words I choose. Not necessarily make it longer, but make it more accurate. As well as injecting more of the characters I've gotten to know so well here near the end into the beginning. The second draft is going to be lot of work, what with the added depth to the characters, imbuing it more with the theme, keeping the conflict levels right, painting a better verbal picture, and keeping the rhythm so the whole thing flows and feels natural. It's going to be so much more fun than it is now (that is said without sarcasm...the rewrites are the fun part for me!). Out.