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Post by fluke on Apr 16, 2011 21:41:21 GMT -5
In my WIP, I have a character who keeps surprising me. He is a supporting character, not even the main character. With him being a simple country priest, I wasn't sure he would be all that interesting. In fact, he originally had very little to do in the story. As I worked on his background, he became much more complex and interesting. He says little, but when he speaks, you'd better pay attention. His first words in the story were "The problem, Manegold, is that we see everything from the wrong side of the tapestry. We see only the knots and dangling threads. Until the Kingdom, we cannot see what the Father is weaving for those who love Him." He started out simply a rural priest, but he keeps adding depth every time he walks on the page. He's going to have his own story some time. My only regret is that the story he's in takes place 120+ years before my main set of stories. If I keep him human, he'll be long dead before the time of "Sunset," and thus not available for casting in any of those stories yet to come.  I've thought about making him a dwarf or an elf just so he can show up later. He fits in with dwarf because several times it's been mentioned that he's short. He's also clean shaven, which would throw a complete loop for those dwarven tropes. I do have an explanation for that though. As a priest, he must not take pride in anything. Dwarven men are very proud of their beards. Therefore, dwarven priests shave their beards. (I'm going to adopt that for Dwarven Orthodox priests even if Phaeus doesn't become a dwarf.) He's an incredible thinker also. That makes me think elf. But human may serve the story best. He lives in a small, rural village on the border between Aviterr and Gunther. The dwarven nations are far away. The elven nations are closer, but as almost all the other priests who have appeared in my stories are elves, I hesitate to make another one. Thoughts on human, elf, or dwarf? Sachalin is out. It just doesn't fit the character at all. |
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Post by waldenwriter on Apr 16, 2011 22:28:11 GMT -5
I know what you mean -- minor characters can take on a life of their own. Two characters in my novel "Darkly Bound" ended up that way -- Suiny, Avalon's mother's friend, and Nick Jameson, the sound designer at the theater Avalon works at. Suiny started off as a mere mention, but became a bigger character in the last third of the book. Nick got his own POV section in chapter 2 as a way of introducing one of the villains, but was not meant to be really more than a background character. But people who critiqued that chapter liked him (probably because he has bionic legs) so I decided to use him more.
A priest could work well as a prominent character -- the Mitford books have one as a main character. Either a dwarf or an elf could work, but a dwarf might be more interesting because elves are often the most religious race in fantasy worlds (except in the Eragon books, where they are atheists).
Just my two cents.
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Post by metalikhan on Apr 17, 2011 11:07:03 GMT -5
I would vote dwarf for Father Phaeus, too. Not only because of the description. BTW, your take on the beard issue is a stroke of brilliance, dude! Dwarves have intellects as powerful as elves; but traditionally, they've often been portrayed as less intelligent. I think, however, their intelligence is of a different type rather than a different degree. Not to insult anyone by the comparison, but think about how the intelligence of a hunting dog is different than the intelligence of a herding dog. Both are intelligent, they do well in the area they were bred for -- they're "hardwired" with specific things. But try to get your pointer or retriever to herd your flock of geese. Nope -- not how his brain is wired. But just that one quote from Father Phaeus sounded more dwarvish than elvish to me. Tuppence thoughts.  |
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Heather Titus
Full Member
a writer, a nerd, and lovin' it
Posts: 121
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Post by Heather Titus on Apr 18, 2011 12:43:36 GMT -5
I love that quote. He sounds very dwarvish to me. And the idea of dwarf priests shaving their beards...wow. Totally jealous! That's an excellent idea. |
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Post by maryruth on Apr 19, 2011 10:51:10 GMT -5
I love the "Dwarven Orthodox" concept of priests shaving their beards. That is purely brilliant.
And I can definitely sympathize with the issue of 'minor' characters turning out to be really major. In my WIP the character Rykehr was written in just because somebody had to be the one to walk into the council hall and deliver the report. He was just supposed to walk in, say his two lines, and then walk out. But oh no, we couldn't possibly keep it that simple. Before you know it, Rykehr is a central character and a major plot point is wrapped around him.
Perhaps Father Phaeus could be something like Doctor Cornelius in Prince Caspian: part Dwarf, part Human... a bit of elf blood might enable him to live long enough to span the 120 year gap between your stories. Just a thought.
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Post by jkmiles on Apr 19, 2011 13:40:00 GMT -5
I like the idea of "mongrel" Father Phaeus. One of the things I sometimes grow tired of with fantasy tropes is the clear cut racial dividing lines. Its all well and good provided it contributes to the plot but when its just there because "that's how fantasy does it" I get bored. I could imagine some dialogue where other characters are always wondering if Phaeus is a dwarf (he's shaves his beard) and elf (too smart to be a dwarf) or human (too tall to be a dwarf) he might even find this funny and maybe a bit annoying (Does it really matter? God loves all the funny and weird on this planet etc.) just a thought.
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Post by fluke on Apr 19, 2011 15:12:02 GMT -5
Biracial would explain why the Patriarch of the Dwarven Orthodox church sent Phaeus to a human village. My dwarves live ~500 years, so he's good there for showing up later. Elves 700+. Standard life span for humans. Becomes a plot point later on. JK, You might like to read my "The Strong Survive" (available in the issue on the main page here (we've had tech difficulties prevent issue 7 from appearing)). The main supporting character is Fey. That's what they call human-elf mixes. The Fey are not generally accepted by main society and have their own nomadic groups. Other outcasts are welcome to join. |
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Post by newburydave on Apr 19, 2011 16:47:45 GMT -5
In my WIP, I have a character who keeps surprising me. He is a supporting character, not even the main character. With him being a simple country priest, I wasn't sure he would be all that interesting. In fact, he originally had very little to do in the story. ------------------------ All the writing teachers I've read say we should do "personal profiles" for all of our major characters. They propose a spreadsheet sort of thing. Well that is possible. I've used spreadsheets to keep track of my characters and their time-lines. But I usually wind up writing a short story about my characters, set before my novel opens, just to get to know them and see how they handle in the corners and at full speed. I've found this useful for ironing out character issues, and I've also got a bunch of short stories that I may be able to Indie publish and sell in Amazon's singles category. Just an idea SGD dave |
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Post by choosybeggar on Apr 19, 2011 19:17:09 GMT -5
Ooh! Short stories.... I write them. Only one has a main character from my first book in it. But it's quality and not quantity, right? On the beards, very cool idea! I'm sad to learn I'm not the first to come up with that. Well, actually, my idea was a little different.
When a normal person becomes a hardcore hermit in stories, they always stop shaving and let their beards grow out. I have a dwarf who becomes a hermit and starts shaving. Same thing on the pride issue. He's trying to kinda do penance for leaving everyone in the lurch in an alternate Earth-place. But everyone needs him back so he needs to wake up and return to civilization. The end.
I like the idea of Father Phaeus being unidentifiable.
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Post by fluke on Apr 20, 2011 11:42:06 GMT -5
Dave,
The short stories I've had in TC2 were done for the same reason, back story for the chars in my novel. Derke appears in the second novel, so I was working on Derke's story when Father Phaeus came knocking. Now, he's going to have his own someday. I'm sure he would have some deep philosophical statement about irony.
Had never thought about Amazon singles...
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Post by jkmiles on Apr 20, 2011 12:08:50 GMT -5
could someone translate "TC2" for the newbie?
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Post by metalikhan on Apr 20, 2011 12:46:18 GMT -5
could someone translate "TC2" for the newbie? Hey, jk. TC2 is the shorthand version for The Cross and the Cosmos, the online magazine for Christian SFF. Christian Soldier (aka CS or Glyn) and fluke (aka Frank) are the main brains for putting it together. Great reads for Christian SFF short stories; and there's an upcoming anthology with some of the first year's stories in TC2 as well as sequel short stories written specifically for the anthology. Issue 6 had teaser excerpts from part of those unpublished sequels. Don't know yet if Issue 7 will (whenever the tech issues get ironed out). |
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Heather Titus
Full Member
a writer, a nerd, and lovin' it
Posts: 121
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Post by Heather Titus on Apr 20, 2011 14:31:30 GMT -5
I do character personality stuff for all my main characters too. But I like leaving room for them to surprise me. It's like getting to know a new friend. (And thankfully, I can say that here without people looking at me like I should be on some sort of medication.  ) |
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Post by myrthman on Apr 24, 2011 20:16:37 GMT -5
Father Phaeus. Cool name! I have a beardless dwarf in my world too. He was heir to the throne and exiled (for compassion on those of other races) until his beard grows back. He's been keeping it off until he decides he's "ready" to return.
If you want to keep Phaeus human, could there be some divine blessing that allows him to live longer? A gift for his many years of service and wisdom, perhaps? It's not unheard of for IRL humans to live that long. Maybe his wisdom has just grown and grown over the years. He may or may not be as spry as he once was, but maybe that would make for good story points.
Or what if he shows up only in memories and as the narrator of scrolls or books he wrote? Maybe another character studied under Phaeus and keeps quoting/misquoting his instructions during the course of his/her journey?
Food for thought.
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