Yesterday, on my professional site’s blog, I wrote on the importance of science fiction as a way to introduce new ideas (yes, including a couple of my own for my Woman at War series).
You can read it here:
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Regards,
Justin
How do we kill those characters we like?
You can’t write a story about war and not have a death or two, right? For God’s sake, half the characters in ‘Catch-22‘ bite the big one (a few of them memorably, like Snowden). Military conflict and death go hand-in-hand. Some important characters must meet their end.
Other memorable scenes include R.P. McMurphy in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ of course. It was a tragedy that had to happen. Or scientist Matt Hooper from ‘Jaws.’ (Spared in the film, his gruesome literary end would leave anyone in Brody’s shoes with survivor’s guilt.)
Or Sirius Black from ‘Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix.’ This one bugged me. Harry needs this living ‘family’ member, a connection to the past that was his parents. And the way Rowling killed him off–his being hit by a spell and falling through the gray-veil doorway–left it open for Harry to bring him back. I wonder if the author herself wasn’t sure what to do about him, thus the mystery. Sadly, he never reappears, and Harry is left without any mentors.
Taking the axe to someone we’ve brought to life is a morbid facet of writing. Obviously, many authors really enjoy it (and some are guilty of, er, overkill).
So how do we kill of people correctly? What is appropriate?
I’ve always tried to write with certain parameters in mind. What is likely? What is realistic? Let the answers to these questions inform the all-important ‘How.’
Combat action is very fast. The different accounts I’ve read (such as ‘Black Hawk Down‘) tell how an intense firefight can last a mere 30 seconds, with thousands of rounds traded across an alley. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for a tearful, schmaltzy farewell.
In ‘Destruction,’ a lot of people perish. It is, at its heart, a story about war. And, for the sake of being realistic, that meant killing off a gentle character I enjoyed creating–a man I’d like to see in other tales and settings. (They could all be tainted by the barn-door analogy, however, a la ‘Solo.’)
Like June Vereeth’s mentor/boss Joffe in ‘Endgame,’ it happens in a flash. (In ‘Endgame’ all Vereeth knows is that the cave ceiling is collapsing, and she and her friend are being shoved away, by Joffe. After the dust settles, she finds his hand protruding from a pile of rock.) This time, she has to watch it–from a distance, unable to do anything about it, during action.
It’s what fits. And, in a story where Karma is turned on its head, this likeable man perishes while a sexist asshole lives. Obviously, this echoes real life. Fair? Not a chance. Art imitates life, doesn’t it?
And could any of us picture McMurphy carrying on as a piece of broccoli, anyway?
Things are looking up for Captain June Vereeth. With friends, she escaped the madness of icy P-75. She brought a couple trophies (prisoners of war) back from the outlaw world of Shen-Zinkh. Now she’s even having fun climbing the picturesque mountains of Zycarsus with a new male friend, smiling in the sunshine…
Well, not exactly. She and this new friend (nicknamed Hulk) and 30 other soldiers are hauling themselves up 3000 feet into a maddening fogged-in world. They’re looking for a downed freighter. They’re lost, because they can’t use anything electronic and nobody has a map. And those pesky Mitasterites will have some competition for deadliest foe in this abandoned world.
First draft done, coffee chugged, I’m now editing Destruction (love my cheery title). And it’s going…well, it’s going. To once-again begin the process of editing a book is to wrestle with a bunch of questions.
Is this what I wanted to write?
Is this story good enough?
Do the right people die (it’s about war) or lose their way?
Am I accurately rendering Vereeth and her flaws and strengths?
Can this heroine reconcile the terrible cost of armed conflict, when she’s often stuck with the most difficult choices?
After two years of notes (the opening chunk came to mind before I was done with ‘Endgame‘) do I have the product I need to have?
Am I a good-enough writer for this?
Justin Edison’s three available books on a shelf
Time will tell.
Maybe.
This sci-fi war story averages 4.7 stars on Amazon. Check it out!
On FaceBook the other day, there appeared an ad which a younger, less-mature me would’ve gotten really pissed-off about. It was for a weekend writing retreat (hundreds of starry-eyed writers crammed into a conference room) where someone could ostensibly learn to write a novel in 40 hours. Four-zero hours.
When I thought about it (and this feels like a gimmick sale) this would only make sense if someone gets the bones and structure and a few character details in place. Then, their story is done. (Well, not really.)
To get the bones and structure worked out is to simplify the overall narrative and arc into elemental terms. “Man falls in love with woman” becomes “boy meets girl” and so on. Naturally, life is that simple, isn’t it?
For fun, I decided I’d try it with “Endgame,” a war/sci-fi novel told from the perspective of my heroine, sniper Captain June Vereeth. (Probably 2,000 hours of work, all told.)
(The story starts in the middle of a battle, when Vereeth and company are defending a fuel dump on a Hoth-like world.)
Girl (Captain June Vereeth, in the midst of battle) shoots bag-guy enemy commander.
Girl meet boy (Dhani, equipment tech) in cave during battle.
Girl re-joins best friend (Prubius) and boss (Joffe) in battle.
Girl is nearly killed by falling, exploding enemy craft.
Girl and best friend are nearly killed by cave-in. Boss dies (crushed).
Girl, best friend, boy and two others are trapped, cut off from battle. Boy’s arm is pinned.
Girl, as ranking officer, orders removal of boy’s trapped arm (lest boy dies).
Girl tries not to panic, orders party to find a different route back to Base (main route is compromised).
Girl and party are saved from cataclysmic blast (fuel cache detonation) when bad guys penetrate the Base.
Girl wonders what to do (party is without maps or radio and is stranded 70 million miles from friendly territory).
Girl orders party to push on, mulling options and the war itself and the opposing side.
Girl and party emerge from cave tunnels, look back to see volcanic-blast aftermath of Base explosion behind them.
Girl and party are surprised to see planetary defense rockets (which were delayed by cyber attack) suddenly launch skyward, aimed at bad-guy cruisers in orbit.
Girl and party are nearly crushed by many tons of falling debris (those bad-guy cruisers).
Girl and party move on, knowing bad guys will be back (and will be as surly as ever)…
Okay, so this story doesn’t break down into really simple statements, after all. But it sure was fun to write!