Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The Center Can and Will Hold

No, I'm not talking about the great center of our country that is being pounded by the current financial crisis and the labyrinthine bailout proposal. I'm talking about the center of 'River of Bones' that I embarked on this morning. I'm up to 2400 words and the hero is about to take a short cut through some mysterious hills in order to gain on the people he's pursuing. Trouble with shortcuts in a fantasy world: they usually lead through a Very Dangerous Place. The particular test and trial that the hero has to go through once he gets there is forming in my mind. My bet is that there will be grumpiness, a variety of weapons of opportunity, a severed limb or two, and hurt feelings. That, my friends, is heroic fantasy gold.

3 comments:

Keanan Brand said...

Excellent. Any good story worth its salt has some grumpiness and a decent number of severed limbs.

Jeff Draper said...

And the great thing is... One usually causes the other so there's a building cycle of destruction that tends to lead to something heroic happening. Oh, the joy.

Anonymous said...

My bet is that there will be grumpiness, a variety of weapons of opportunity, a severed limb or two, and hurt feelings.

Sucks to 'heroic fantasy gold'! Your scenario sounds more like the current state of the American Presidential Campaign. One of the candidates is already displaying 'grumpiness' and 'hurt feelings' while his 'weapon of opportunity' seems somewhat blunt and tarnished. I'm just wondering about the 'limb severing'. Is that literal or figurative?