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~ Author of Tales From Undersea

Wood the Writer

Category Archives: story

Top five books with good premise but bad execution

27 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book review, criticism, fantasy, musings, romance, steampunk, story, top 5 list, writing

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Tags

book criticism, books, creative writing, lit, writing

If you could name one thing in common with all your favourite books, it would probably be that they all have an excellent premise. Perhaps it is a new twist on an old genre, a unique location, or a fascinating character. It is the thing which made you choose the book over thousands of others on the shelves.

But like me, you might have frequently found yourself drawn into a book by its excellent premise only to find that the content of the book is severely lacking, or not what you were expecting. These are some of the books I have read which I had high hopes for but which I felt weren’t carried out well (this is all opinion based so don’t get your panties in a bunch if I slag off a book that you like):

Obsidian Mirror by Catherine Fisher

The premise: A teenage boy travels to a remote English villa to find out what happened to his missing father, and uncovers mysterious secrets.

The execution: Mystery, time travel, steampunkish tech, faeries, and some other stuff I just didn’t get all jammed together into one book. This book had a strong opening, but then threw so much stuff at me all at once that I barely had time to take it all in or keep track of what was going on.

The King’s Sister by Anne O’Brien

The premise: A story about Elizabeth of Lancaster, sister of King Henry IV and a little-known figure of history.

The execution: Medieval soap-opera melodrama and problems which were either solved way too quickly or just seemed to solve themselves eventually anyway.

Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks

The premise: A highly different fantasy which is set not in another world or the distant past, but in the post-apocalyptic far future.

The execution: Just another bog-standard sword-and-sorcery fantasy. There are so many things that could have been done with this premise- Magic duels in the ruins of skyscrapers, contemporary stories becoming folklore, everyday modern objects viewed as sacred artefacts. If you want this same premise done much better, read the Mortal Engines series instead.

The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

The premise: A teenage orphan and her friends get the chance to travel to a remote palace in Russia and uncover hidden family secrets.

The execution: Cliched characters, a protagonist who is barely active in her own story, and huge, completely noticeable plot holes.

Dragon’s Child by M.K. Hume

The premise: An origin story for King Arthur, focusing heavily on the Roman Britain setting.

The execution: Murder, rape, torture, paedophilia, slavery, and just plain uncomfortable reading.

 

What are some books which you thought were going to be great but severely let you down? Tell me in the comments below.

How to write a love/hate relationship

20 Sunday Aug 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Common Criticism, criticism, romance, story, writing, writing advice

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books, lit, love hate relationship, romance writing, writing

I’ve previously written about some of the classic romance writing tropes which I can’t stand, and today I have another to add to the list: Love/hate relationships. These are fictional relationships in which a couple do nothing but fight, sometimes even physically abuse each other, yet at the insistence of the author and the rest of the cast, it is evidence that they are falling in love.

It’s clear why this type of relationship in fiction isn’t too popular anymore and why people are beginning to severely question it. Who looks at a real-life couple arguing and thinks that is what they want from a relationship? It isn’t very romantic to hook up with someone when you still hate them.

Yet readers still love reading about interesting and complex relationships and a dynamic between two incredibly strong-willed individuals working through their feelings can be a good one when done correctly. Hate turning to love is still a popular fanfiction plot as readers enjoy seeing how their favourite characters can go from one emotional extreme to the other. They just don’t want to be tricked into supporting an unrealistic couple with no reason to love one another. These are some of the top ways to write a believable love/hate relationship without dipping into abusive territory:

Write a character arc

The golden rule of writing applies to love/hate relationships too. Rather than showing a couple spend an entire work of fiction bickering then have them suddenly admit their attraction and hook up at the end, give them an actual character arc to show how they and their relationship change over the course of the story. Show how intense hatred can turn to intense love through character interaction gradually softening the relationship.

Overcome a character flaw

An integral part of the character arc is to show a character with a severe flaw which they come to realise and improve. Perhaps the reason your characters start out in a love/hate relationship is because one or both has trust issues or was raised in an abusive household. These can explain the character’s motivation and give them an interesting Hero’s Journey which the readers will want to follow.

Make it comedic

Another way you can get away with a love/hate relationship is to write it in a comedic context. This stems all the way back to Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, possibly the very first love/hate relationship story. We can laugh at Benedick and Beatrice’s quips yet still have the sense that they genuinely care for each other and feel happy when they sort things out at the end.

Gielgud_and_Leighton_in_Much_Ado_1959

Don’t write physical or mental abuse

The main criticism against love/hate relationships is that authors confuse abusive behaviour with regular domestic arguments, or believe that regular fights are a normal part of relationships. Thankfully people are now waking up to how damaging this message is, but there are still too many borderline abusive relationships in fiction. Arguments may be a common part of relationships, but they should be presented in a constructive manner to allow a couple to air their grievances occasionally, not happen all the time. It should go without saying that physically abusive behaviour has no place in a romance, not even in a comedic context.

Make it purposefully self-destructive

You might, however, decide to go down the opposite route and write this type of relationship as self-destructive on purpose. This can demonstrate the realities of a co-dependant relationship and how it will rarely work out. There are many fascinating real-life examples of couples with a ‘can’t live with them, can’t live without them’ type dynamic. For example, the biopic Sid and Nancy depicts the real-life relationship between the Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen and the disastrous impact it had on their lives.

 

What are some good and bad examples of love/hate relationships that you have seen in fiction? Tell me in the comments below.

How to Write a Long Term Relationship

19 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, author, Common Criticism, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, romance, shojo, story, writing, writing advice

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romance stories, writing, writing relationships, writing romance, writing tips

There is a reason why most love stories end at the ‘happily ever after’ part; after we’ve seen the couple finally confess their love or defeat the obstacles which were preventing them from getting together, we like to believe that they skipped merrily into the sunset and never had any problems ever again. We don’t like to acknowledge that in reality, even the most loving relationships can still have problems, and most don’t work out at all. It doesn’t help that most couples in fiction who are supposed to be a representation of true love wouldn’t work out for very long in the real world. This leads to many writers depicting a long term couple as boring, relying upon old stereotypes, or piling unnecessary drama upon them.

As someone who has been in a long term relationship for nearly 12 years (I’m only 28, by the way), I can tell you that there are ways that you can write one and make it just as interesting and heart-warming as a couple who have only just gotten together. Here are a few top ways:

Dealing with realistic issues

Rather than using a string of soap opera melodrama to test the couple’s relationship, it is much better to show them going through realistic and relatable issues. This could be health problems, issues with their families, or the stress of raising a child. These are the real tests of a relationship which determine if it will last. Readers will respond to them much more than yet another forced temporary breakup.

For instance, in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadence and Shining Armour are supposed to be the literal embodiment of romantic love, but they were criticized for being too perfect. In recent seasons they had a baby, Flurry Heart, and had to deal with the stress of caring for their first child, which turned opinions on the characters around and suddenly made them much more realistic and grounded.

Animated ponies are more relatable than most soap opera characters

Five love languages

Author Gary Chapman theorised in his book The Five Love Languages that there are five ways that couples show love for each other, and that we need all of them, not just one or two, to make a relationship work long term. These are gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and physical contact. Ensure that your fictional couples use all of these to show how their relationship remains strong.

Leave out the arguments

I for one am really sick of the so-called joke of two people arguing ‘like an old married couple’ as proof that they are a perfect couple. It is true that even the best relationships do involve arguments over petty things such as leaving the fridge door open or who was supposed to take the dog for a walk. We all get stressed at times or make mistakes so it is inevitable. But readers don’t want to be reminded of these disputes when they are indulging in escapism, so it’s best to leave them out of your fiction.

Have the relationship evolve

One of the things I love about the Japanese anime My Love Story is that the love confession scene, which would be at the end of any other anime, happens in episode three out of 24. The rest of the show is dedicated to the two figuring out their first major relationship by going on dates, setting up their friends, and getting to know each other’s families. It goes to show that you can definitely have a romance story arc that doesn’t end after ‘I love you’.

Don’t make the reader question why they’re married

For decades, mainstream television was under the apprehension that arguments and constant disagreements are a normal, and even preferable, part of relationships. But attitudes towards marriage, divorce, and family have since changed, so when modern audiences look back at these old shows, they usually say ‘but why don’t that couple just get divorced?’

Today’s consumers aren’t accepting of actions that can be interpreted as abusive and are bored to tears of nagging wives babysitting their lazy husbands. Many of them might have even grown up in these types of households and have experienced first-hand why they are so destructive in real life. So no matter what, don’t make your readers question why your couple ever got together in the first place or why they are accepting of a miserable living situation.

Write them as characters

In cartoons it is normal to have stock parent characters who are only ever referred to as ‘Mum and Dad’ even by other characters. Am I the only person who has noticed how weird that is? But you hopefully aren’t writing this type of story. You want to write your long term couple or parent characters as people, not stick figures. Give them backstories, goals, likes and dislikes, and everything else you would give your protagonists and they will become some of the most memorable and lovable characters of all.

20 years later and I’m still trying to figure out their names.

Top Ten Anime and Manga to Inspire Writers

14 Sunday May 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, art, author, convention, fairy tale, film, shojo, story, tokyopop, top ten list, tv

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

anime, inspiring anime, inspiring manga, manga, writer

The stories which inspire you to write will largely depend upon the genre in which you write. However, I have found that stories about the journey of writers, or people of any creative discipline, are especially inspirational and motivating. Here are just a few of the top anime and manga which use this to inspire writers, or any creatives:

  1. Princess Tutu

Have you ever had the feeling that your story is running wild and your characters are making decisions on their own? Well this is an anime in which that literally happens. It starts off as an enchantingly strange tale of a duck-turned-human at a ballet school who turns into a magical girl and uses complex ballet moves to save her beloved prince. It takes its fairy tale inspiration and parodies, subverts, twists, and turns it every possible way. The ballet and classical music references are so accurate that the anime is even used as a reference in university courses and has had academic papers written about it.

2. Whisper of the Heart

One of Studio Ghibli’s most understated films tells the simple story of a young writer working on her first story, adjusting to changes in her life, and finding her place in the world. Some write this film off as boring or lacking in conflict, especially compared to some other Ghibli films, but it is an often painfully honest portrayal of the process that writers go through in their early stages. Like Shizuka, many of us do like to believe that life is like a fairy tale and become sourly disappointed when it doesn’t turn out to be true. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t find great stories within our own lives.

All writers will know this feeling

3. Kiki’s Delivery Service

Another Ghibli film and another about a young person discovering their unique talents and forging their own life path. Again, Kiki’s Delivery Service can come across to some as slow and boring as it has no antagonist (outside of one little bitch who rejects her grandmother’s lovingly baked pie). The antagonistic force is actually Kiki’s lack of self-confidence as she goes through a period of transformation in finding her unique skill as a witch. There is also a lengthy portion about Kiki’s interaction with a young artist, which helps her to determine her reasons for doing what she does and gain her confidence back.

Ursula’s painting from Kiki’s Delivery Service

4. Sunshine Sketch

Also known as Hidamari Sketch, I have rambled on before about how this is one of my favourite anime and manga series, both for its lovable characters and how accurately it portrays the emergence of a trainee artist. The protagonist Yuno suffers disappointing setbacks and encouraging accomplishments as she tries to find out what she wants out of her artistic career, while also spending plenty of time having fun with her friends.

5. Kaleido Star

An anime about a girl training at a huge Cirque du Soleil style show, I love how this series portrays both the struggles of an emerging performer and of an established performer, almost in equal measure. It faces some tough issues that artists actually face at the beginning, such as becoming overly arrogant, wanting to hog the spotlight, and the balance between creating art and making revenue from it. It also subverts the recent American Idol idea that a positive attitude alone is enough to succeed, showing that setbacks can and do happen and can even cripple a career. Instead, the message is that consistent hard effort and learning from mistakes are the only way to succeed. The circus performances are also a tonne of fun to watch.

6. Dramacon

Back in the heyday of Tokyopop’s domination of the manga marketplace, they put out this three issue series by Russian-Canadian artist Svetlana Chmakova about a romance blooming at an anime convention. Not only is it a hilarious send up of fandom culture and the convention circuit, it also carries many lessons of becoming a creator, particularly of comics, such as accepting constructive criticism. The standard ‘fantasy forbidding parent’ plot is somewhat clichéd and the suffering artist plot is settled a little too easily, but it still alludes to several harsh truths about being a full time creator, presenting both the positive and negatives. There is an entire scene spelling out the multiple reasons not to be a creator and it is made clear that it is a large risk that requires a strong backbone even if you do become successful.

7. Love Live! School Idol Project

In this anime, a high school student starts up a school idol group as a way to drum up publicity for her school and prevent it from shutting down. Perhaps a somewhat naïve reason to get into the arts, but one which ultimately pays off and helps each of the group members to discover great things about themselves, which is why their group is fittingly named μ (muse). Plus there are more than enough musical numbers and cute outfits to entertain.

8. Full Moon Wo Sagashite

Another series about a wannabe singer, but one with a more rounded and tragic plot. In this case, the protagonist, Mizuki, loves to sing but has a malignant tumour in her throat that can only be cured by removing her vocal cords. She opts out of the surgery to achieve her dream of being a singer, even though it means she only has a year left to live. This is a rather tragic take on the ‘follow your dreams’ plot, but one that is subverted as the story goes on. Knowing that she only has a year left to live actually frees Mizuki from many of the pressures of the music industry and allows her to focus on her music rather than the industry drama.

9. Velvet Blue Rose

This obscure manga is hard to find in English, as unfortunately Tokyopop went bankrupt before the entire series could be translated. But if you can find it, it is both an entertaining story with vibrant characters and an inspiring tale on creating beautiful things for the happiness of others. The wedding dress makers in this manga frequently take on impossible jobs which keep them up multiple nights in a row, yet their passion for their work and the smile on the customer’s faces is what keeps them going. Yet there is also an underlying message about getting out of the studio once in a while to spend time with the people you love. Oh, and lots of lovely pictures of wedding dresses.

10. The Wind Rises

This one more than any other anime on this list will make you cry buckets, but in a good way. It is fitting that for Hayao Miyazaki’s final film he paid tribute to his hero, the real life plane engineer Jiro Horikoshi. The outbreak of World War Two means Jiro has to live with the fact that the planes he loves so much and works on so passionately are being used to kill people. And as we know from history, he was on the losing side of the war. Despite its highly controversial subject matter, it is a tragic yet also inspiring story, teaching us that we can’t control how our work will be used, critiqued, or interpreted, but that shouldn’t stop us from trying to make the world a better place. Watching this film actually taught me that the most important thing about being a creative is creating something that inspires others.

What anime and manga inspire you as a writer or creator? Tell me in the comments below!

Book Review – Pegasus

27 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, book review, culture, fantasy, story, writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

book review, books, fantasy, fantasy book, lit, pegasus, reading, robin mckinley

pegasus

Pegasus by Robin Mckinley tells the story of a human kingdom which for over a thousand years has held an alliance with a race of sentient pegasi in order to keep both races safe from the monsters which ravage the land. Part of the treaty is that members of the human royal family are ceremoniously bound to members of the pegasi royal family. Despite this, the two races can only communicate through vague sign language and still know little about each other’s cultures.

This all changes on the day that Princess Sylvi, the fourth child of the current King, is bound to her pegasus Ebon, the fourth child of the pegasus king. They find that they can communicate with each other telepathically. While the two are happy with their new found friendship and some hope it can form a greater bond between humans and pegasi, others, especially the bitter court magician Fthoom, feel that it is wrong to go against a thousand years of tradition and it will break the alliance. As she grows closer to Ebon and the other pegasi, Sylvi comes to discover many secrets about both of their races that have been hidden for generations and which may well put their alliance in danger.

I began reading this book as I am also writing a boot that includes pegasi, and I was immediately drawn in by the new angle that the author takes to pegasi, making them much more than just horses with wings. Most notably, they have small feather like hands on the ends of their wings which allow them to make things. Sylvi’s Pegasus Ebon wishes to be a sculptor of all things.

It is unfortunate then that the major failing in this book is that it is incredibly slow paced, particularly at the beginning which feels much more like a history lecture and takes about four chapters to get to the first major plot point. It is at least interesting exposition which provides a good setup for the inciting incident and does at least make you want to keep reading, but it still feels like it could’ve been so much shorter and to the point. It made reading the book even more frustrating as I was genuinely enjoying it and becoming invested into the characters, but the bad pacing was so noticeable that I knew it would keep me from giving it a five star rating. I couldn’t even use the excuse that it is a classic book using archaic language as it only came out in 2010.

The rest of the book isn’t much better with sometimes a hundred pages between each plot point, and yet there is also a setup for a monster attack which is never carried through. There is a cliff hanger at the end with a sequel supposedly coming out soon which will hopefully complete this plot thread. But it still feels as if the entire story could’ve been condensed into one volume just by cutting down upon the lengthy parts.

Still, anyone who doesn’t mind sifting through this heavy exposition and enjoys fantasy with a unique perspective will still like this book. Sylvi and Ebon are likeable protagonists and you can’t help but feel drawn in by their strong bond and curiosity over each other’s cultures. I’ll be looking forward to the sequel, even if I might have to sit through a lot of lengthy prose for a second time.

Rating – 4 out of 5.

New Short Story – Alone in the Picture Gallery

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Jessica Wood in art, culture, Short story, story, writing

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creative writing, flash fiction, lit, picture gallery, short story, writing, writing prompt

I have returned from the slumbering depths with a new short story! Ok, I’ve actually been super busy with work over the past month and have had a few sick days too, but I have scraped together enough time to post this new short story, which is actually closer to flash fiction.

This is another short that I’ve been re-working and sending off to several contests and anthologies without luck. I feel that I’ve done enough with it that I possibly could so I’ve decided to post it here for my blog visitors to enjoy.

I began this short with a prompt to write something inspired by a museum visit, so I wrote about a real experience I had back when I volunteered at a museum in the UK. The details are slightly different, but this basically did happen to me. Hope you enjoy:

This work is my possession and must not be repeated or re-printed anywhere else without my prior consent.

Alone in the Picture Gallery

exhibition-362163_640

I always looked forward to rainy days. They were bad for most people but not for me. Fewer visitors to the museum made my work go much quicker and gave me some alone time with the artworks. The museum became my personal playground for a short while. I knew that it needed visitors and their precious donation money to stay open but I still much preferred peaceful days like that overcast Monday morning.

I had been checking the light levels of the paintings just as I did every day. There was nothing unusual about them on that day. The dull sky was good for the paintings so I was even happier.

The old man’s blaring voice came out of nowhere, startling me.

“What’s that you’re doing?” He said, appearing behind me suddenly like something out of a cartoon. I must have been so absorbed in my work that I hadn’t noticed him approach me.

“Light meter readings, sir.” I said, with my best ‘tourist smile’ on my face.

I was asked questions like these every day, even on a quiet Monday morning. It was all part of my job, but not one I particularly enjoyed. I’m much more comfortable taking care of paintings than I am talking to people. I rattled off my usual answer so that I could get back to my work.

“Long term exposure to direct sunlight damages the oil paintings, so I’m recording how much light-”

“Do you know how long I had to wait for the bus this morning?”

I was a little thrown back by his abrupt question. It was a little too much for my limited social skills.

“Uh…I don’t…I don’t know, sir.”

I thought that maybe he was making a complaint to me, being the only staff member in sight. But the museum didn’t even have a bus service, so what was he complaining about?

“Forty five minutes.” He said. “Forty five minutes standing in the rain! Can you believe it?”

“Yes, that is a long time to wait.” I mumbled awkwardly. Not knowing what else to say, I turned back to the painting. Socialising with customers wasn’t exactly my job, so I shouldn’t have to feel bad about it.

“There used to be one every half hour. Now they come every hour.” The old man continued.

“Oh…I see.” I said, hoping that writing on my clipboard would give him the message that I had a job to do.

“They’re all the same, aren’t they?” He said, following me as I walked to the next painting.

“I suppose so.” I said, not entirely sure who ‘they’ were.

“And the worst part is they see nothing wrong with it.”

I tried to shuffle to the left but he moved closer. His breath smelled like barley sweets. I was almost afraid that the stench would damage the paintings. I looked around the room, desperate to see a colleague I could rush to with an imaginary problem. But we were the only two people there.

“That’s our society for you, people becoming self-entitled. They want everything to be about them. I mean, we have two thousand television channels but are we any better off?”

By then I knew that I would be there for a while, trapped alone in the corner of the picture gallery by barley breath. I wanted to just say ‘Please excuse me, I need to get back to my work’ but my natural shyness wouldn’t let me. If I was bolder, I could have asked him why he waited for 45 minutes in the rain when he could’ve just stayed at home and come another day. But I didn’t.

My nodding had become rhythmic by that point. I discretely watched the door, hoping for a lost day tripper to wander in and ask me for help. But the whole museum seemed to have emptied of people. Nobody else would be silly enough to come out in this weather.

 

After fifteen minutes of his ranting, I was thinking of faking a horrible stomach condition just for an excuse to run from the room. I silently prayed for the radio on my belt to alert me of something urgent, but it stayed silent.

I cast a desperate glance at the long line of paintings I still had to check before noon. I thought that maybe I should just go and check them anyway, but I would feel rude, even in front of this miserable old fusspot. He’d just follow me around the entire museum until my shift was over anyway.

If I was more confident I would have screamed ‘Shut up! Shut up you stupid old windbag, no one cares about your stupid tiny problems except for you. Why else would you stand in the rain for forty five minutes and come to museums just to find someone to moan at?’ But I didn’t. I just stood there smiling and nodding, crying internally.

“…Sent the letter four weeks ago and they still haven’t done anything about it. You’d think they’d do more considering what they’re paid, don’t you agree?”

What? What had he been talking about? Was it the supermarket aisles being moved around or the neighbour’s dog barking at 3am? Whatever it was, I was sure it couldn’t be more annoying than cornering a random museum employee to use as a personal comments box. Isn’t this what the newspaper letters section was invented for?

“Oh yes, of course.” I said, smiling and nodding like a dashboard ornament, the only social rules I knew. I hadn’t been paying attention to what he’d been saying for a while now, but I hoped that was the right response. I’m sure he wouldn’t have noticed anyway. He just wanted someone to agree with his insane ramblings. Maybe if I wasn’t so annoyed, I would have actually felt sorry for him.

“It’s outrageous, isn’t it?” He said, chuckling to himself, inciting me to give an obviously fake laugh in response.

The strangest thing happened then. He turned around, still laughing to himself, and left the room. My forced smile finally drooped. The stench of his breath would haunt me for weeks. Worse than that, he had stolen fifteen minutes of my work time then wandered off as if it had been nothing.

He hadn’t even left a donation in the box.

 

The Villain Redemption Story. Part 3 – How to Write a Villain Redemption Story

04 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in Common Criticism, culture, fantasy, story, villain, writing, writing advice

≈ 1 Comment

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novel writing, story, story arc, villain, villain redemption, writers, writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing tips

In this series, I’ve previously looked at why you should consider a villain redemption arc, when is the right time in a story to redeem a villain, and the things to avoid. Now it’s time to finally look at how to write the villain redemption arc.

Just like with any good writing trope, a villain redemption story relies on one important ingredient – A story arc. In cartoons, you may see villains changing their tune completely with the minimum amount of convincing, but that is mostly due to time constraints. In a novel, particularly in a fantasy story, you have more space to write an ongoing story arc to show the villain’s gradual change. In real life, people don’t change their entire attitude in a single day or after hearing a single heartfelt speech. It takes years for that sort of change to happen. Here are a few other ways that you can write this story arc:

  1. Leave Hints Throughout the Story

Similar to dropping foreshadowing throughout your story, leaving some hints that your villain has the potential for good will help when it does come time for them to change. It goes beyond ‘they’re evil but still love their pet dog’. Even the worst people in history had loved ones and pets they cared for. It could instead be an indication of the outside forces that turned them bad or having them show a hint of sympathy at a time when they didn’t need to.

  1. Research Real Life Cases

All good writers do their research, and the same is true here. It is useful to look up some real life examples of former extremists who changed their attitudes to see how it can happen realistically. Check out this story of a former member of a South African militia. You can see that there was a key moment when he realised that he was on the wrong side, but it only came about after a long period of doubt, and even that wasn’t enough for him to leave the militia immediately.

  1. Show the Consequences

So the villain has left their evil ways behind, now they can join the good guy’s team and fight evil themselves, right? It isn’t quite as clean as that. Actions have consequences and even if the person has been forgiven and is trying to redeem themselves, they will have to deal with these consequences and travel a difficult road to redemption.

First there is the emotional weight they have to deal with. How do they feel when they realise the thing they’ve believed in their whole lives was a lie? Do they respond with denial, depression, or by turning their anger against a new target? It isn’t always easy for people to abandon their old lives, especially if they still have family ties towards it.

They don’t have to be completely perfect straight away, but can instead transition into being good, or at least better than they were. It is more realistic, and holds more emotional weight, to show them accidentally letting out an offensive slur, acting aggressively, or holding onto old habits rather than immediately opening a puppy farm. And of course, there will still be a lot of guilt for them to deal with.

  1. Make the Punishment Fit the Crime
Sure he killed dozens of people, but at least he didn't eat their flesh.

Sure he killed dozens of people, but at least he didn’t eat their flesh.

Even if you want your character to be forgiven, they should ideally have to undergo some form of punishment for their crimes first. A reader will feel cheated if a former villain immediately gets away with everything they did just because they said ‘I’ll be good from now on’. Similarly, if a villain has taken steps for redemption but still receives an unfair punishment, the reader will feel equally cheated.

  1. Subvert the Tropes

As much as I’ve said that there are certain tropes that should be avoided, you can still put interesting twists on them to create a unique story. Take the mind wipe, for instance. Instead of brainwashing the villain into their own ideology, suppose the hero has to do it because they have no choice (I seriously thought this was how Gravity Falls was going to end). This opens up the possibility for the hero to question their own morality, having a sort of redemption arc of their own. Perhaps they could use it as an opportunity to teach the villain how to use their powers for good. And what could happen if the villain does get their memories back? The story possibilities that come from subverted tropes are endless.

 

There are a lot of villain redemption stories which weren’t handled well. But those that are become some of the most emotional, interesting, and though provoking stories of all. Be sure to focus on the story arc and avoid the pitfalls and you can have a unique redemption plot in your own novel.

Book Review – Two Caravans

09 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, book review, culture, romance, story, writing

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book, book review, marina lewycka, political satire, political writing, strawberry fields, two caravans

caravans2

Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka, also published under the much less boring title Strawberry Fields, tells the stories of a group of seasonal agricultural workers, primarily an idealistic young Ukrainian aspiring author named Irina, who all find themselves working at the same strawberry farm in Kent. While her romantic vision of England is far from what she expected, Irina still finds a sense of camaraderie with her fellow strawberry pickers despite their different backgrounds, aspirations, and language barriers, as they attempt to make the best of their situation. Their peace is interrupted one evening when an incident involving the promiscuous farmer and his jealous wife leads the entire group on the run from the law and scattered across South East England working various menial, low paying jobs. Each of them meets a host of characters, some immigrants and some Brits, who are equally down on their luck. Some of them give in to despair that this is what their lives have become. Others hang onto hope that it is merely a bump in the road that will lead them to achieving their dreams.

I read about this book in a magazine and with the current political situation in the UK, thought it would be ideal to read. As entertaining as the book is, it is also a necessarily painful eye opener about the truth of the UK’s so-called immigration crisis and how we are able to get affordable food from our supermarkets. I grew up in Kent, where the book is primarily set, and was only vaguely aware that this type of thing was happening. This is why it particularly spoke to me when one of the foreign workers walks into the quaint English village next to an inhumane chicken farm, where an employee had his thumb cut off only a few hours before, and wonders if the village residents are aware of what is happening right on their doorsteps. If the events in this book are even remotely close to the truth (the back of the book does cite some research), they are outright depressing, especially since the fate of some characters is left ambiguous and it is easy to assume the worst.

The book is able to generate this sympathy thanks to its cast of characters with well-rounded positive and negative traits. It doesn’t always make them completely likeable, but it does at least make them realistic. Even Irina and Andriy’s awkward romance, which is almost a parody of the epic romance tropes both of them are hoping for, is surprisingly endearing because it is presented in the way most young romances play out. The bonds they form to get through their difficult times and their never ending hope for a better future are endearing and even prompted me to re-evaluate my own life a little. But at the same time they are disheartening when you realise that there are people in these exact situations in real life who probably never escape the cycle.

And yet these revelations are broken up with moments of dark humour which reach almost Monty Python levels of ridiculousness. My favourite is when Tomasz, a Polish worker with limited English, is talking to his fellow chicken farmer about Big Brother, and both of them repeatedly confuse the Big Brother house with the chicken house they are standing in.

The only negative point I can give this book is the jarring switches between character viewpoints, and even between first and third person, including sudden and pointless jumps into the point of view of a dog.

The social commentary might be a little too heavy for the recreational reader but anyone interested in good political satire will enjoy this as an entertaining, darkly humorous, and informative read.

My rating – 9/10.

The Villain Redemption Story. Part 2: When to Redeem Villains

05 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in Common Criticism, culture, fantasy, film, musings, story, tv, villain, writing, writing advice

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

novel, novel writing, story, story arc, villain, writing, writing advice, writing tips

I previously wrote about the villain redemption story and why it is such a great story to write about. But just like with every type of story, it can only work if it is done correctly. There are villain redemption stories which work and ones which don’t work. When is it right for a villain to be redeemed and when should they be left as they are? I’ve listed some examples of both to help identify when the right time to redeem a villain is:

  1. The Comic Villain

Discord_sitting_ashamed_S03E10

Cartoonishly comic villains such as Discord, Gideon Gleeful, or Dr. Doofenshmirtz were all funny villain characters but they could also be genuine threats, and sometimes even outright terrifying. This type of villain can be redeemed since they are rarely the standard big bads so it is easier for readers to relate to and even sympathise with them. Funny villains are often much more incompetent compared to their darker counterparts so we can buy that they can be converted to the good side.

  1. Story Potential

As I mentioned, there are countless numbers of stories you can have with a redeemed villain. It is often an ongoing process that can stretch over several books and provide your readers with many moral questions to mull over.

  1. The Morality Pet

Ideally someone needs to show the villain the error of their ways and inspire them on the path to goodness. The morality pet trope is ideal for this, by providing the villain with a change in perspective, giving them something they can care for, and showing the readers their good side in how they protect and care for that person.

When not to redeem villains:

  1. For the Sake of Drama

While the villain redemption story can increase drama, using it purely for the sake of increased drama rarely works well. There needs to be a reason for the drama to exist otherwise it will seem forced and unconvincing. Don’t shove in a redemption arc into your story just for the sake of it either. If you look at your story and find that a redemption arc doesn’t fit into it anywhere, then don’t feel as if you need to include one.

  1. The Moral Guardian Ending

I call it this because a villain redeemed at the very end of the story with no build up feels like an ending suggested by a focus group or a concerned parent’s union and not by the author. If you have your villain change at the very end just for the sake of everyone feeling happy and getting along, the concerned parents may be happy but your readers won’t be. It is much better to redeem a villain with an ongoing story arc, and even with good characters struggling with viewing them as good, instead of at the last minute.

  1. Mind Wipe

A common way that writers try to force in the Moral Guardian Ending is not by having the villain decide to change but for the heroes to turn them good by use of magic. This is problematic for two reasons. First of all, it is assuming that good and evil are easily identifiable, when as I discussed earlier they are in fact subjective and sometimes even ambiguous. Secondly, it doesn’t look too good when the hero essentially mind rapes the villain into thinking exactly as they do. If the villain did something like that then everybody would be saying how terrible it is.

The Care Bears were the real villains all along...

The Care Bears were the real villains all along…

  1. Irredeemable Villains

200px-ClaudeFrollo

While many villains can be redeemed, there are others who can’t be redeemed and shouldn’t. These are characters who you want to see punished. In Disney’s adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frollo spends the story as a murderous bigot so it is intensely satisfying when he is flung down to hell at the end. If a villain has no reason to be forgiven for something truly evil then they shouldn’t be, by either the characters or the author. Otherwise readers will be wondering why other characters are showing sympathy for a villain who doesn’t deserve it or why they should feel any sympathy themselves.

Next time I’ll be taking these last two posts together and detail fully how to write the villain redemption story.

Manga Review – Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc

28 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by Jessica Wood in anime, Blog, clamp, fantasy, manga review, musings, romance, series review, shojo, squee, story

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cardcaptor sakura, clamp, clamp manga, clear card arc, kero, magical girl, manga, manga review, romance manga, sakura, shipping, shojo manga, syaoran, tomoyo, touya, yaoi, yue, yukito

ccs

It’s a good time to get nostalgic about anime and manga at the moment. Right after Fruits Basket got a sequel series, my other favourite manga series Cardcaptor Sakura is also getting a sequel, to coincide with the manga’s 20th anniversary, and the first chapter has just come out in Japan.

Cardcaptor Sakura is one of Clamp’s most popular series and along with Sailor Moon, it was one of the defining series of the magical girl genre until Madoka came along and turned it super angsty.

I’ve been re-watching the anime lately and it not only still holds up (the only thing that has become outdated is the bulky cell phones), its portrayal of LGBT+ characters was amazingly progressive for a late 90’s show, something that western animation is still struggling to get to grips with. The general rule of Cardcaptor Sakura, and with Clamp manga in general, is that love has no boundaries such as gender, age, or whether a person is technically human. While this does provide a few questionable student/teacher romances, it’s rare to see a series where sexuality and gender identity are treated in such a way. Touya and Yukito were probably the first yaoi couple I knowingly shipped like crazy (I shipped other guys as ‘friends’ thanks to section 28) and it took me this long to realise that Yukito is technically non-binary. If you throw in his alternate form Yue, does that technically make it a polyamorous relationship?

Always date a person who's hair is longer than their body.

Always date a person whose hair is longer than their body.

The plot of the original series was about a precariously cute little girl named Sakura who discovers a book of magical cards called Clow Cards in her father’s library and accidentally sets them all loose. She has to become the Cardcaptor and use her growing magical powers to get them back and stop them causing mischief throughout the town, all while trying to get the cute boy she has a crush on to notice her.

The Clear Card arc picks up almost exactly where the manga left off; on Sakura’s first day of middle school when she and her long distance boyfriend Syaoran are finally reunited and can finally be together forever. But on the same night, Sakura gets another of her prophetic dreams about a mysterious figure in strange clothes, indicating that a new supernatural thereat is on its way.

Even if Sakura has only aged up a few years in the story’s timeline, there is still a strong feeling of ‘my daughter is all grown up’ for the reader. It’s refreshing to see all of the characters again in their original forms, and not with all the Tsubasa alternate dimension self weirdness (sorry Clamp fangirls, but I really didn’t like Tsubasa). Tomoyo, Sakura’s loyal best friend, is hilarious as ever when she films Sakura and Syaoran’s touching reunion and for some reason I find it funny that Kero, a magical creature who has lived for hundreds of years, has an e-mail address.

Perhaps it is because the characters are getting older but something still feels slightly off with this first chapter. Sakura and Syaoran aren’t quite as lovey dovey as you’d expect of a couple who have been separated for years. They even re-exchange their homemade teddy bears, which in the original manga were a symbol of their love for each other. I really worry that is some kind of horribly foreshadowing. There is also a notable absence of Yukito, despite being a major character and presumably an official couple with Touya by now. Perhaps there just wasn’t enough time in the first chapter to introduce him along with everyone else.

Even so, all of these new questions are intriguing. The series has been able to develop itself while still keeping with the spirit of the original. I’m looking forward to the next installments of the story arc and seeing what is going to happen to Sakura and her friends from here.

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