Indie Publishing Guide: Writing Tip For Working With Good Ideas and Bad Stories #2—Use a Strong Character in a Different Story
So here's a disclaimer: The stories I'm talking about, the one's from which I recycled characters, aren't actually bad. In fact, I'm really proud of them. So proud, in fact, that I published them already.
However, a few years back, when I was drafting the early version of A Knife in the Back, I wasn't entirely sure they'd make the cut. I've already discussed how I did this with Topher, so I won't bring him up again. But I will talk about Jason Riddle. And the nameless main character of "The Unholy Triumvirate." And a minor character from Raleigh's Prep.
Jason Riddle
Riddle is a character that first appeared in "Under the Rocks." At the time, I'd been writing the stories that eventually became the first seven tales in A Knife in the Back. The idea was to put my own twist on some of my favorite horror scenarios. I wrote a vampire story, a haunted house story, a death cult story, a post-apocalyptic story, a zombie story, and a serial killer story. The last one was set in Fredericksburg, VA, and I wanted to write something having to do with the Rappahannock, so I wrote a river monster story. Here's the blurb for it:
Something evil is swimming in the waters of the Rappahannock River. Jason Riddle knows it. He and his brothers thought they’d killed it in the summer of 1932. Seventy years later, that evil has returned, and Riddle knows that he has to destroy it once and for all.
In its early incarnation, "Under the Rocks" had its strengths, Riddle being one of them. He's funny, strong-willed, and best of all, he's well past seventy. In the initial drafts, I couldn't find a rhythm for the story, it contained way too much exposition, and even worse, I could never nail the ending down. So I put it on the back burner while I wrote the sequel to Raleigh's Prep, Tracker's Travail. Since Tracker's Travail was also set in Fredericksburg, and since I hadn't really been able to finish "Under the Rocks" to my satisfaction, I decided to use Riddle and the premise, but subverted the whole thing. In his first appearance, Riddle is the hero killing the beast. In his second, he's the beast killing the hero.
The funny thing is that after I finished Tracker's Travail, I came up with a great ending for "Under the Rocks." Rather than change either story, I left them the way they were. It's more interesting that way. Still, if I hadn't written him as a villain, to see that side of him, I wouldn't have been able to bring out those unprincipled qualities in him in "Under the Rocks," and I wouldn't have been able to find the ending.
The Protagonist from "The Unholy Triumvirate"
Sometimes writers come up with characters that stick with them, characters that, for some reason or another, beg to be delved into more deeply than originally intended. That's the case with the main character of "The Unholy Triumvirate." He's probably one of the funniest and most profane characters I've ever written, and when I was casting around for new ideas for my next book, he kept coming to mind. I'd like to say I struggled with the premise, but I didn't. To me it was a slam dunk: put a gangster from 1920's NYC in a sci-fi/horror novel set after The Singularity and see what happens. The result was Bonesaw, which was intended to be a stand-alone novel. After some excellent feedback from an agent who agreed to read the whole manuscript, I decided to raise the stakes and turn Bonesaw into a series. So the first book became the last, and I wrote The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake. Here's the blurb:
When Bonesaw, an early 20th Century gangster, is rescued from prison by the Brotherhood, he doesn’t realize it is actually a kidnapping. They give him a choice: either compete in The Gauntlet (Golgotha, Hell, and The Battle Royale), or they’ll cut off his head. Of course, the contest is designed to produce maximum body count, and even if he can make it out alive, he won’t like what they have in store afterward.
Nearly a century later, Detective Katherine Wheeler investigates a string of murders with similar, horrifying details: each victim dies when something huge erupts out of their bodies. As the corpses pile up, she realizes that an invasion is underway, one that could wipe out all of mankind.
Finally, deep in the jungle of a primitive planet, Coatl faces his most dangerous foe yet: the monstrous tecuani. When they overrun the last stronghold in the empire, he decides that the world has one last hope for survival: Ka-Bata and his army. But no one has seen Ka-Bata in years, and nobody even knows if he’s still alive. To make matters worse, Coatl was infected by a tecuani, and the larva growing in his leg will soon mature and burst out. Can he find Ka-Bata in time before it does?
Separated by time and space, these three unlikely allies, The Rabbit, The Jaguar, and The Snake, must find a way to join forces. If they can, the human race has a chance to survive. If they can’t, it is doomed.
Mistress Chainwrought
Mistress Chainwrought is mentioned a few times in Raleigh's Prep. She is the evil headmaster responsible for the creation of the beasts that live in the woods surrounding the school, the monsters that simultaneously keep watch over the grounds and periodically kill the students. As part of the mythology of the novella, I always intended to tell her story, but since she existed prior to the three protagonists, and since I couldn't find a way to write a story set at Raleigh's Prep without them, I never gave it a shot. Until I wrote an early draft of The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake. Her section didn't make it into the first book, but she is a huge part of the second. Granted, I haven't even drafted it yet, but I know her role, and I know how to fit her in to the mythos of the new series, which is really exciting. Not only do I get to explore an evil character from my first series, I've managed to figure out a way to entwine her in my second series!
So when you're casting around for new ideas, or if you've written a great character in a story that just isn't working (yet), consider putting them in something that is.
Next up:
Writing Tip #3: Turn a strong scene into flash fiction
Are you a fan of horror or post-apocalyptic fiction?
Go to www.jamesnoll.net to join my email list and receive a free short story, audio book, and theme song for "Beta":
A monster terrorizes an isolated village in the mountains of Eastern Europe, draining the blood of its victims, leaving them frozen in the snow. The villagers hunt wolves, decapitate “vampires,” but the murders continue. As each new body is found, the residents grow more and more paranoid. Who will be next? Will it ever end?
However, a few years back, when I was drafting the early version of A Knife in the Back, I wasn't entirely sure they'd make the cut. I've already discussed how I did this with Topher, so I won't bring him up again. But I will talk about Jason Riddle. And the nameless main character of "The Unholy Triumvirate." And a minor character from Raleigh's Prep.
Jason Riddle
Riddle is a character that first appeared in "Under the Rocks." At the time, I'd been writing the stories that eventually became the first seven tales in A Knife in the Back. The idea was to put my own twist on some of my favorite horror scenarios. I wrote a vampire story, a haunted house story, a death cult story, a post-apocalyptic story, a zombie story, and a serial killer story. The last one was set in Fredericksburg, VA, and I wanted to write something having to do with the Rappahannock, so I wrote a river monster story. Here's the blurb for it:
Something evil is swimming in the waters of the Rappahannock River. Jason Riddle knows it. He and his brothers thought they’d killed it in the summer of 1932. Seventy years later, that evil has returned, and Riddle knows that he has to destroy it once and for all.
In its early incarnation, "Under the Rocks" had its strengths, Riddle being one of them. He's funny, strong-willed, and best of all, he's well past seventy. In the initial drafts, I couldn't find a rhythm for the story, it contained way too much exposition, and even worse, I could never nail the ending down. So I put it on the back burner while I wrote the sequel to Raleigh's Prep, Tracker's Travail. Since Tracker's Travail was also set in Fredericksburg, and since I hadn't really been able to finish "Under the Rocks" to my satisfaction, I decided to use Riddle and the premise, but subverted the whole thing. In his first appearance, Riddle is the hero killing the beast. In his second, he's the beast killing the hero.
The funny thing is that after I finished Tracker's Travail, I came up with a great ending for "Under the Rocks." Rather than change either story, I left them the way they were. It's more interesting that way. Still, if I hadn't written him as a villain, to see that side of him, I wouldn't have been able to bring out those unprincipled qualities in him in "Under the Rocks," and I wouldn't have been able to find the ending.
The Protagonist from "The Unholy Triumvirate"
Sometimes writers come up with characters that stick with them, characters that, for some reason or another, beg to be delved into more deeply than originally intended. That's the case with the main character of "The Unholy Triumvirate." He's probably one of the funniest and most profane characters I've ever written, and when I was casting around for new ideas for my next book, he kept coming to mind. I'd like to say I struggled with the premise, but I didn't. To me it was a slam dunk: put a gangster from 1920's NYC in a sci-fi/horror novel set after The Singularity and see what happens. The result was Bonesaw, which was intended to be a stand-alone novel. After some excellent feedback from an agent who agreed to read the whole manuscript, I decided to raise the stakes and turn Bonesaw into a series. So the first book became the last, and I wrote The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake. Here's the blurb:
When Bonesaw, an early 20th Century gangster, is rescued from prison by the Brotherhood, he doesn’t realize it is actually a kidnapping. They give him a choice: either compete in The Gauntlet (Golgotha, Hell, and The Battle Royale), or they’ll cut off his head. Of course, the contest is designed to produce maximum body count, and even if he can make it out alive, he won’t like what they have in store afterward.
Nearly a century later, Detective Katherine Wheeler investigates a string of murders with similar, horrifying details: each victim dies when something huge erupts out of their bodies. As the corpses pile up, she realizes that an invasion is underway, one that could wipe out all of mankind.
Finally, deep in the jungle of a primitive planet, Coatl faces his most dangerous foe yet: the monstrous tecuani. When they overrun the last stronghold in the empire, he decides that the world has one last hope for survival: Ka-Bata and his army. But no one has seen Ka-Bata in years, and nobody even knows if he’s still alive. To make matters worse, Coatl was infected by a tecuani, and the larva growing in his leg will soon mature and burst out. Can he find Ka-Bata in time before it does?
Separated by time and space, these three unlikely allies, The Rabbit, The Jaguar, and The Snake, must find a way to join forces. If they can, the human race has a chance to survive. If they can’t, it is doomed.
Mistress Chainwrought
Mistress Chainwrought is mentioned a few times in Raleigh's Prep. She is the evil headmaster responsible for the creation of the beasts that live in the woods surrounding the school, the monsters that simultaneously keep watch over the grounds and periodically kill the students. As part of the mythology of the novella, I always intended to tell her story, but since she existed prior to the three protagonists, and since I couldn't find a way to write a story set at Raleigh's Prep without them, I never gave it a shot. Until I wrote an early draft of The Rabbit, The Jaguar, & The Snake. Her section didn't make it into the first book, but she is a huge part of the second. Granted, I haven't even drafted it yet, but I know her role, and I know how to fit her in to the mythos of the new series, which is really exciting. Not only do I get to explore an evil character from my first series, I've managed to figure out a way to entwine her in my second series!
So when you're casting around for new ideas, or if you've written a great character in a story that just isn't working (yet), consider putting them in something that is.
Next up:
Writing Tip #3: Turn a strong scene into flash fiction
Are you a fan of horror or post-apocalyptic fiction?
Go to www.jamesnoll.net to join my email list and receive a free short story, audio book, and theme song for "Beta":
A monster terrorizes an isolated village in the mountains of Eastern Europe, draining the blood of its victims, leaving them frozen in the snow. The villagers hunt wolves, decapitate “vampires,” but the murders continue. As each new body is found, the residents grow more and more paranoid. Who will be next? Will it ever end?
No comments have been added yet.
