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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Nickeris86 on March 31, 2010, 08:11:06 PM
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i have been plotting out a book for a while now, and i think i have a good base to work from, but i am having the hardest time introducing my main character. its a modern day fantasy novel like Dresden Files in that the every day person has no clue that magic and monsters and such are real. its from the first person and i can't figure out how to have the main character come out in his introduction that he is part of the magical world without it sounding corny or forced.
any suggestions?
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i have been plotting out a book for a while now, and i think i have a good base to work from, but i am having the hardest time introducing my main character. its a modern day fantasy novel like Dresden Files in that the every day person has no clue that magic and monsters and such are real. its from the first person and i can't figure out how to have the main character come out in his introduction that he is part of the magical world without it sounding corny or forced.
any suggestions?
Have something happen to him that he has to handle first. Have him explain it later, after the reader's already seen some of it.
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I agree. Start with a conflict that requires the character to take action. Make it apparent that he's diving into unfamiliar territory.
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I agree. Start with a conflict that requires the character to take action. Make it apparent that he's diving into unfamiliar territory.
well he is a magic user so for him its not unfamiliar territory
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i have been plotting out a book for a while now, and i think i have a good base to work from, but i am having the hardest time introducing my main character. its a modern day fantasy novel like Dresden Files in that the every day person has no clue that magic and monsters and such are real. its from the first person and i can't figure out how to have the main character come out in his introduction that he is part of the magical world without it sounding corny or forced.
any suggestions?
I like the idea of starting it in medias res. It's a good way to kick things off. Just be careful to keep the explanations to a minimum necessary to keep the reader interested.
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action.... always action... let the action show it.
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well he is a magic user so for him its not unfamiliar territory
Sorry, misread the initial post; I thought you meant the main character is not familiar with magic/supernatural. (Keep my browser windows small when using the internet at work, since we're not really supposed to)
I still think it'd be good to start with a conflict of some kind. Doesn't have to be an all out blazing fight. It could be an argument, a spell gone wrong, a break up, etc. Anything that gets the ball rolling and forces the character to do something. I just recommend that you steer clear of starting the story with a big info dump about the world/rules of magic etc.
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If the idea of starting with supernatural action doesn't agree with you, another alternative is to start out with him doing something normal and mundane (still action but not exciting) and then bring in something supernatural and have him treat it as casually as he does his more "normal" activity. You can do this on the first page or wait a bit. It gives you the opportunity to let your readers relate to your character before you mention his supernatural abilities.
A variation of this is to have him doing something that seems mundane until the last minute. ( "Did I mention that the fox I was hunting was a kitsune" or "of course not many pick up lines sound original when you've been hearing them for the last two hundred years" etc.) Neither of these openings is particularly original but they both work well if well done. Remember Jim starts his first book with the mailman (hard to get much more mundane than that) and then segues into the fact that the speaker is a wizard.
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"I scolded the imp for burning my coffee again."
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"I scolded the imp for burning my coffee again."
I really hate EVP. For the uninitiated, that's Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or strange voicelike static that will show up on electronics when ghosts are trying to communicate with you. Invariably, that means trouble. Right now, however, it meant something worse. It meant that I was missing most of the game. "Dammit Sid! I got fifty bucks on this. Can you give it a rest!"
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I really hate EVP. For the uninitiated, that's Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or strange voicelike static that will show up on electronics when ghosts are trying to communicate with you. Invariably, that means trouble. Right now, however, it meant something worse. It meant that I was missing most of the game. "Dammit Sid! I got fifty bucks on this. Can you give it a rest!"
both of these are hilarious and fit in well with my concept lol ;D
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"They say a good repairman is like a magician. That may be true. I know that my rates are lower than those of several repairmen, which is why I had a job today.
It's amazing how badly even a second-rate football team can tear up a hotel. The glass alone was going to take half an hour to gather and fuse.
Two of the masseurs looked up from their work, one grinned. I'm going to have to shield better, even healing touch practitioners could hear me today."
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i think i have a good intro now. where the main character is shaving and notices his reflection does not match so he tells the little gremlin thing in it to get out. i named the critter Doug.
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That sounds like a good start, as long as the action picks up quickly. That is, unless you can make shaving an epic battle.
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Or unless shaving can make for suspense hooks.
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The day started out average, but I knew something was wrong when the guy teleported into my office.
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Muahahahhahaha i am an evil genius. finally figured out a way to introduce magic into my story with out making it forced or dumb sounding.
one word ladies and gentlemen: Gremlins.
more accurately trying to remove gremlins from your tv or stereo with out blowing it up.
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one word ladies and gentlemen: Gremlins.
more accurately trying to remove gremlins from your tv or stereo with out blowing it up.
You are aware that gremlins were made up out of whole cloth as a propaganda exercise, yes ?
By Roald Dahl.
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You are aware that gremlins were made up out of whole cloth as a propaganda exercise, yes ?
By Roald Dahl.
Actually Dahl wrote the book (thank you Wikipedia), but the stories of gremlins has preceded his writing. By about 18 years, actually. They were part of RAF lore before he wrote it, and inherited into the US Air Force. To this day, there are still believers in it, my uncle being one of them. The story of tricksters messing with aircraft and causing high-altitude failures that were otherwise inexplicable was popular because of the isolation one felt up there.
Patricia Briggs has a good explanation of a gremlin in her Mercedes Thompson books as being just a modern name for a much more ancient metalworking fae who can touch Iron unlike normal fae.
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yeah they are my reason why tech fails around mages, because the gremlins are drawn to their magic and just start mucking with things.
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yeah they are my reason why tech fails around mages, because the gremlins are drawn to their magic and just start mucking with things.
You could do the same thing with pixies, ghosts, fairies, too. Sounds good.
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well the gremlins were an epic fail, just couldn't get the tone right for the plot and it just became slapstick which was not what i was going for. so they have been scrubed for now might use them again later for some comic effect.
so now i am left with a modern day necromancer good guy with a very slim introduction that takes place in at a funeral for one of his clients. he hates funerals and falls asleep in one of the pue's and gets woken up by a freaky dream that is not a dream. that's all i got so far.
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Muahahahhahaha i am an evil genius. finally figured out a way to introduce magic into my story with out making it forced or dumb sounding.
one word ladies and gentlemen: Gremlins.
more accurately trying to remove gremlins from your tv or stereo with out blowing it up.
You might want to check out the TV movie - CAST A DEADLY SPELL. It's Mike Hammer meets HP Lovecraft. Actually quite good.
In it, someone is dealing, not too well, with Gremlins. (At least I think they're Gremlins) Fat little obscene winged critters that moon you and chew on wires. Also fart a lot.
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hmm sounds interesting where could i get that show.
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Dead Like Me also uses gremlins fairly successfully.
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hmm sounds interesting where could i get that show.
It's a made for TV movie staring Fred Ward, David Warner, Julianne Moore, and Clancy Brown. Originally HBO put it out in 1991.
I have it on video but I believe that it's on DVD too.
You might try Amazon or Netflix.
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You are aware that gremlins were made up out of whole cloth as a propaganda exercise, yes ?
By Roald Dahl.
Nope, not completely. Look up the term "Coranied".