On Sunday I figured out the ending. It's in my head, paper is for wimps! Bwa-ha-ha.
The basic story arc is, main character is defending, keeps losing, things go from bad to worse, cycle repeats, character is captured, character gets his revenge. I wasn't going to say how, but I should. I've been struggling with what the story is (they come in pieces). The main character's motivation is to defend his planet (it's a Space Pirates story). The pirates come for the gems the colony has been digging up (Nanite Quality Diamonds the size of boulders, just lying around, come prospect on our planet!). So how can the character win? Suicide car-bomb. That'll be the twist. Ha!
Trust me, it'll make sense in the story.
7 comments:
Some say it helps to narrow the theme of your story down to one or two words, at most. Not even one sentence--really; two/three words max. It can help you get the story arc to reach the 'correct' ending, as well as help you understand your characters' true motivations (protag wants to save his planet why? Heroism? Redemption? Sense of Community? Belonging? Self-worth?).
So, what one/two-word distillation best suits your pirate story?
(by the way--have you ever noticed "Space Pirates" are listed as one of my interests on my profile?)
Not sure I can do it with one or two words. The Main character's motivation (Khamel Singh)? Duty and Job. I'd have to think of how to distill the story into two words. Greed and Duty might be it. Greed works as both the motivation of the Pirates, the "governor" character, and the emotion our main character exploits. Duty, well, that's our guy, isn't it.
Didn't see that Space Pirates were an interest. The story is: Pirates; attack the harbor (letter of marque), raid the treasury, take hostages, and try and get off planet before reinforcements can show up. Hero; screws up planning, commands defenders, screws up defense, gets caught, offered job/exposed past, "takes" job, destroys pirate ship.
I have another story, a first contact story that's a combination "sub thriller/pirate" story. I need to write that one. Told with an allegory along side (explains what's happening in the first contact as, at least in note, the aliens never say why they are doing what they're doing).
Screw the pirates'-motivations (greed, etc)--they're only a mechanism for the main character to shine (or fail, or overcome obstacles, or change direction, or find true love, or be lured to the dark side, or destroy himself utterly, or whatever).
So, your Hero's story (thus, ultimately, Steve Buchheit's novel) might be about Fulfilling Duty, for example, which your protag can do in the end, even if he has to overcome obstacles (like pirates, or corrupt politicos, or personal weakness, & so forth).
Or maybe it's just about blowing things up in outer space.
I know when I get to blow things up I get the same look Jamie Hyneman does on mythbusters. That wild-eyed kid in a candy-shop, whoopie we get to blow things up, look.
I like my villans to have motivation, it makes them real.
And I'm thinking it'll top out at around 7000 words, hopefully less. Maybe 6000. And, yeah, I have my own "duty bone" which I wish would break and let me get on with life. So some of my characters also have that flaw.
Okay, well, that would be Adam's face when he gets to blow stuff up.
Ahh, short story.
Well, you know I've got nothing when it comes to short stories. Whole different ballgames and whatnot. Very different from full-length novels.
Yes they are. I think I am a novelist, but I just know I would have given up if that's how I had tried to make finished pieces. Now I have more confidence and I'm tackeling the novel ideas. I don't think I could write a novel like this, though. This is very tough for me, and I'm feeling a lot of push-back for getting the words out on it. But I have the idea, I have a market opening, so I'm going to try for it. Even writing "War Stories" didn't feel this hard (although that was difficult to get out as well). I still have mixed emotions about my own stint in the Air Force, so I think that's showing up in the writing. At least for now, I don't think a military novel is in the works (although the fantasy stuff is definately sword based).
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