Writing woes...

[agilebrit]

continue apace. I have nothing in mind for a short story, and the new novelthing is trying to go "funny" on me without me wanting it to because it deals with Dark! Serious! Issues! that are Not!Humorous!At!All.

Which may be why it's trying to go funny on me. My brain is wired to be contrarian, and it's entirely possible that it's sick and damn tired of smacking the snot out of my characters and wants them to have fun for once.

Which would be fine.

In another story.

But I have a dragon snarking at the humans, the humans are more frustrated at the situation than afraid of it, and my entire plot has come down around my ears in a welter of THIS DOESN'T WORK IN THIS GENRE. Not that I'm particularly stuck in genre conventions per se and as a general rule, but High Fantasy does have its Rulebook and I can't do this the way it seems to want to shake out, dammit.

So. Clearly. I need to raise the stakes. What is Brock more afraid of than losing his Dad?

And no. "Getting married" is not an acceptable answer. It's the funny answer, but it's the wrong answer when his Dad is lying there, slowly dying of dragon venom poisoning.

You know... *ponders* I could save the Dad and then have him abdicate the throne. Run off and marry the Head of Protocol or something as he figures out what's really important in life. That would be funny and get him out of the way...

Comments

[ebenstone.livejournal.com]

Who says you have to follow the damn Rulebook? I kind of like the idea of a snarky dragon and frustrated humans. It says a alot about the humans that they are frustated instead of terrified. On some level, it actually might work...y'know, since the humans are so bad ass.

And maybe he's not afraid of "getting married" for the same reason everyone else is...maybe it's the burden of responsibility that might be implied by the marriage that he fears....

Then again, I'm only going by what you've written here.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's definitely the burden of responsibility. He's the only son and in line for the throne, and feels in no way ready for it. Also, two of his three prospective brides are trying to kill him.

Perhaps I should Embrace the Funny rather than running full-tilt away from it...

[kimaginethis.livejournal.com]

I know, I will be outing myself as a huge dork, but this reminded me of the scene in Half-Blood Prince (the book, not the film) when Tonks and Lupin have this conversation about their affair and love and all of that mushy stuff that shouldn't be discussed in public in a hospital ward, within minutes of someone else's death. It just drives me nuts.

I'm jealous that you write as much as you do.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Mostly, lately? It's been "staring at the doc and tearing out my hair" rather than actual "writing." But now that I have a direction, I think I may get back to putting words on the screen instead of staring at it in abject terror.

And I think it's a very human thing to discuss inappropriate topics at times of great stress. Like having sex right after a near-death experience in order to affirm "Hey! We lived!"

[gates-end.livejournal.com]

I say try writing it the way it wants to go. All funny and snarky. Maybe that's what the scene requires for that time, and then it'll go back to serious. There is a fine line between tragedy and comedy. And who says you can't break the rules?! I say "Break them!"

Good luck sweetie!

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! We shall see which rules need to be broken. I think this is where "yes, but" plotting comes into play. Will Brock save his Father the King? Yes, but... *evil laughter*