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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: SlimMason on March 16, 2008, 04:03:34 AM
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Keep in mind, I ask this about series books. (including wizards)
In the dresden files, Hary is the kind of person with so much history he learns a little more about his past in every book. Like his mother and everything there in.
So, With a series, is it neseccary for the main character to be of any importance, have a mysterious past? Could a series be based on a relativly normal guy in a sequence of events? Does the importance/danger level of the plot need to increse?
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So, with a series, is it neseccary for the main character to be of any importance, have a mysterious past?
The main character should be of some importance, he is the main character after all. I think you can write about an Average Joe, but being the main character in enough not-so-average events should sort of bring him above the average. Because I think main characters should be able to overcome challenges that most people will never even face.
Does he need to have a mysterious past? Well, that depends on the type of series you want to write. Do you want your main character to keep discovering new things about himself or his family as the series progresses? Do you want the mysteries to be more about discovering something new about the world in which he lives? Or some combination of both? So, no, I don't think it's necessary for the main character to have a mysterious past, unless that's the kind of series you want to write.
Could a series be based on a relativly normal guy in a sequence of events?
Sure, why not? See above about Average Joe.
Does the importance/danger level of the plot need to increase?
Again, I think this depends on the type of series you want to write. Within each book, the danger level should increase until you get to the climax. And I think you can set up a series like this, where you think of each book in the series as a different act, so the danger level will increase until you get to the final book or the climax of the series. But then you can also write a series where there is no overarching plot, so the danger level wouldn't have to increase with each book in the series.
Another thing to keep in mind is how much you want your main character to grow and develop. So I would choose whichever works best for telling your character's story.
Yttar
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The Average Joe character does work. Look at John McClain (Die Hard series.) He's an ordinary person (in the earlier movies.) The only thing that seperates him from the other schmucks is that he is a cop, but even so...cop is relatively normal.
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Keep in mind, I ask this about series books. (including wizards)
This would also apply to stand alones as well but the plot arches are shorter
In the dresden files, Hary is the kind of person with so much history he learns a little more about his past in every book. Like his mother and everything there in.
Everyone has a history. Some people's parents did amazing things they don't even know about and you wouldn't know it passing them on the street. It's how you present that history to the reader. To say "my mother, the farmers wife, once had an affair while my father was out of town" makes it sound tawdry and mundane but to read (or see in the movie) the depth of feeling and awareness change in "The Bridges of Madison County" The children of a recently passed woman have to look at her in a different light. It's how the reader is lead to relate to the main character, how that character feels about the mysteries and revelations they discover. Their parents (grandparents, old babysitter, good friend...etc.) may be the most boring person on earth or have had an amazing history - either way it's how the main character is affected; even if it is only in their state of mind.
So, With a series, is it neseccary for the main character to be of any importance, have a mysterious past?
No. They don't have to become important either, but they do have to be interesting enough to keep the reader's attention. I think I would read about Harry even if both his parents were normal people - the mysteries in his past just develop their own story arches over time. It is just one of many plot devises in this particular series.
Could a series be based on a relatively normal guy in a sequence of events?
As long as you could write that normal guy so that he was interesting to your readers. Can we empathize with them? It's easier with 'normal' people but harder to keep the readers interest if nothing happens to them.
Does the importance/danger level of the plot need to increase?
I don't think it necessarily needs to increase but each time the character is drawn into a situation it should be believable and interesting. Sherlock Holmes solved mysteries in every story, but each one was different from the others - some more dangerous, some more personal, some more complicated.
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Keep in mind, I ask this about series books. (including wizards)
In the dresden files, Hary is the kind of person with so much history he learns a little more about his past in every book. Like his mother and everything there in.
So, With a series, is it neseccary for the main character to be of any importance, have a mysterious past? Could a series be based on a relativly normal guy in a sequence of events? Does the importance/danger level of the plot need to increse?
Depends on how you define "importance".
There should be some sort of reason why the plot is happening to this person in particular, so "important" in that sense. And once things have started happening to your protagonist that set them apart from everyone else, that does make them different, they can't really stay a completely convincingly utterly normal person for very long. That's it. Everything else is up to you. I disagree with yttar in that I don't think a main character needs to be better able to deal with situations than most people; I think you can get an interesting story out of a main charcter who is worse able to deal with some things than most people and has to compensate, as for example the Codex Alera.
I don't think a series protagonist needs a mysterious background at all; on the other hand, the longer I spend with someone, the less credible I will believe it if their background does not have some impact on who they are and how they behave.
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Cool. Good respoces. The more I back off and do other things, the more ideas come to me. I think I have found a nice direction to take my character. Thanks.