TKO Creations

(Via Exiern)

Hello again.

I suspect this latest page is going to get a bit of discussion going, so let me add a little fuel to this little bonfire.

There were four distinct resolutions I considered as I plotted out exactly where this went.

1) The path they eventually decided to take, with the shaman taking the infamy of what happened to “protect” what was being built of barbarian society.  It’s inherent problem should be obvious… the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  It only works as long as the public remains ignorant of what really happened.  But how would said public ever learn the truth?  The evidence is being disposed of pretty well, and anything that is found can be pretty easy be pinned on Sturm.  It’s not like there’s anyone with the power to see through the veil of time, who has even better natural talent with the vision magic Sturm poss… oh.

2) Exiling Sturm for his “crimes.”  It follows the same problem as the first… with the additional problem that exiling such an elderly man would potentially be seen as cruel (a quick execution being seen as more merciful than a slow death at the hands of the Wild North) and perhaps even showing a hint of weakness to be unable to simply end the problem face to face.

3) Facing the truth head on.  While the “honorable” solution, it’s one of the most potentially disastrous.  Tensions among the tribes are very high.  Wyll’s been running a tightrope just to keep them all on the same page.  To learn that the Matron had not only tried to kill Wyll-Line, but also sought to preserve the Ash Tribe’s old way would very likely result in a civil war… a civil war that would likewise end any hope of a peace treaty with the Rus.  The threat of the entire Wild North erupting into a bloody conflict is a very real possibility.  Could it be much ado about nothing?  Could the better parts of barbarian society stifle the dissent before it got to that point?  Maybe… but my experience with human history tells me that would be fairly unprecedented.  Would that be a risk you would be willing to take with so much at stake?

4) (This one was one that I actually entertained up until I actually scripted this page… and you can tell from the previous one) Peonie intervenes, and offers the support of the Grand Luminary Alliance to help Wyll-Line squash any potential uprising that would occur by declaring the truth of the matter.  But… Lord oh Lord, would that be a powder keg when you think about it.  The problem here is one of perception… no matter how noble your intentions, when you impose yourself on matters that do not directly involve you, the response from the parties involved tend to be resentment.  Try it sometime when you see an argument… go ahead, butt in with a solution.  Watch as both sides don’t take kindly to your interference.  A similar problem would face Alliance interests… they would not be seen as keeping the peace; they would be seen by a great many as an invader, a foreign entity occupying their native land.  While not as bloody as a civil war, it would have a prolonged effect on any attempts to a long-term stable region.

When I write these sort of “moral” conundrums, one thing I don’t ask myself is, “Which one is the best option in the long run?”  I don’t particularly like that question, because it assumes that the characters involved both know the circumstances, and have the foresight to see the consequences of their actions.

Instead, I ask, “What would this character do?”  And sometimes, that isn’t the best choice.  Sometimes we, as people, make the wrong or less ideal choice either because we lack all the information needed or have to hastily make a decision in the available amount of time.  Sometimes there isn’t a “best” choice that can be made to begin with.  And when all come into play at once… well, good luck.

Wyll-Line doesn’t have the time to weigh all his options.  He has to make a fairly hasty decision.  Did he make the right one?  Was there a right choice?  I honestly don’t know… and that’s kinda the “fun” in it.

There’s really nothing I can provide in terms of sweet updates to my projects.

Artists can drop a panel or two of their artwork.  Video or game developers can drop clips.  What I can do?  Five sentences from my latest project that makes no sense without context?

Just some concept sketches from Megatokyo’s Fred Gallagher for my current project in development.  MT fans might know who this is, but what she’s doing dressed like that is still a secret.

I tend to cringe at the idea of offering writing and creativity advice; mostly because its hard to overcome the feeling that the only thing I’m good at is pigheaded tenacity to simply not quit when any rational human being would have, and that any successful creation is an accident more than design.  Any revelation into my “method” will reveal the heinous reality that I’m a hack and a fraud, and so it’s best to just maintain this sage like aura of detachment.  But as people keep slapping me about… I need to reach out and be engaging, no matter how much I’d rather just sit in the corner and do my work and let everyone come to me.

I’m told this whole creating professionally thing works like that.  Who knew?

So, I think what I’ll do instead is just throw out some of ideas I’ve developed over the years and maybe it might give people something to think about.

I’m trying here okay?  Chatty-content stuff is hard.

There’s No Such Thing as a Likeable Character

In that, I mean there is no way to guarantee that your audience will like any character, no matter how you try.  Designing a story around the concept of your audience becoming emotionally invested in Character A is a risky proposition.  If it gamble works, great.  But if it doesn’t… the impact your hoping for could likely wind up the exact opposite, assuming your audience sticks around for what you hope the payoff is.

There’s No Way to Write a [x] Character

One of my guilty pleasure movies is “As Good as it Gets.”  Not because I think it’s good (it really isn’t all that), but because it mercilessly tortures the “rules of writing”, and I find that endlessly fun.

Like this particular exchange:

“How do you write women so well?”

“I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability.”

Now that’s obviously not true, or even remotely close to good advice, and that’s the point really.

So What IS the Point?

You aren’t writing characters.  You’re not writing a “likeable” character.  You’re not writing a “female” character, or a “male” character, or a “gay” character, or whatever label you attach as a prefix.

You are writing a person.  Who happens to be female, or male, or gay, or black, or white, or with downs syndrome, or in a wheelchair, or with six eyes and scales, etc… (I think you get the picture here, right?).  As much as people in real life identify with their traits, ironically enough I have found that the most well-rounded characters are the ones that are built with the traits tertiary.  You need to pare it down to the core first, because really at the end of the day, there are so many different people who behave so many different ways that as long as the person is internally consistent, the traits fall into place around that.  Much like how I think people really develop.  The identity builds around the person… the person doesn’t build around the identity.

So that would be my advice when you sit down to make your character.  Start from scratch.  Don’t come into the process with any preconceptions as to what you want that character to be, then start filling it in, and see what comes out of it.

Any other concepts you want to pick my brain on?  Ask away… I might actually answer.

(via Exiern)

One theme I wanted to play with in this story is how a person’s actions can be interpreted very differently based on preconceptions or prior influence.

This is one such payoff for me; what many characters took as a demeaning action to try and put a strong woman out of sight and out of mind turned out quite differently once the full reasons were revealed; but I’d like to think that hints that things weren’t like they seemed even at the time I set the stage.

For example; on this page, it’s noted that the fishing grounds was an area that could lend itself easily to an attack.  Denver’s little friend commented that it had been a concern, but not anymore.  Now we know exactly why, and that rather than a demeaning post (for a culture that values hunting one of the highest and important duties), it was in truth a post that was granted to Diana because she was only one that Wyll-Line felt could do the job right, to keep a level head and not do something foolish just in case the pleas for peace from their old enemies was a ruse.

A further subtle hint that things might not be how they seemed was the authority Diana projected here.  Knowing what we do now, does it look like a woman upset at her station?  She’s fully in control, she knows she has the authority to speak for the chieftain, attempting to negotiate a “smaller weir” to use for fishing.

To go even further on Wyll-Line’s intentionally poor lighting, starting here, when he puts Tiffany’s companions to work.  I intentionally cast the scene to make the chieftain’s actions quite insulting… now think of it this way;

Sending Niels to work with the senior men of the camp, who he hoped wouldn’t be dumb enough to pick a fight with the armored bear (and they managed to avoid that)…

Peonie wound up “working” right under his own roof…

And Denver was sent where Diana could keep an eye on him.

Yes… this is the sort of stuff that runs through my head as I plan out stories.

No… I’m not normal.

Initially, I was going to put this in with all the other short stories I had written, and sell them on Amazon’s Kindle Store for $0.99.

But, ‘eff that.  That’s not cool.  It’s a money grab (even if it would only net me about 35 cents a sale).  And I don’t do money grabs.

So, what’s the answer?

THIS.

Yep, like all my other short stories, it’s right here, for free.  The print buyers still get their moment of exclusive content, and I keep with what I had been doing.  This small stuff has always been free.  It should stay that way.

Just an update for anyone who was interested in delving into the series, but didn’t want to spend $15 for that first taste, The Broken Prophecy is now on a permanent price drop to $10.99 (buying if from Amazon through the link above actually has it cheaper).  Kindle and Nook versions will have a price drop to $5.99 in the next 24 hours as well.

So, if that is more to your liking, hop on in and give it a look!

Okay… just the Kindle version currently… but oi did Amazon hit the ground running with that one.

Other versions should be updating soon, so keep your eyes open if the Kindle isn’t yer thing!

Nook and Print versions ARE LIVE!!!  Whoo!

Soon… very soon in fact.

Like within the week soon.

I won’t lie, I’m really quite excited about it.  It’s only been a few months since the first book dropped, but that’s far too long for my tastes considering how long I sat on the whole manuscript (The Sixth Prophet and The Broken Prophecy were written for the most part concurrently, you see).

Jorge Rivas (who did the color work for the first cover), takes his hand at the whole shebang this time around, and I think did a marvelous job.

Now… I know there’s a handful of people who bought the rough manuscript of both books, and want to know what’s changed.  Well, nothing much again.  It’s a lot cleaner, it reads a lot better, some character names got reworked to fit their proper theme…

Well… then there’s the whole added short story to the print version.

Oh?  I didn’t mention that yet?  Silly me.  Yep, as a special gift to those who order the dead tree version, it includes a never before seen short story, “The Head of the Beast”, which gives additional insight to the Endtimers, the person in charge of them, and helps to set the stage for the third book in the series.

Now, before you Kindle and Nook users get too upset, rest assured, “The Head of the Beast” will eventually be made available as part of an e-book compilation of all the short stories currently available, which print users won’t see in dead tree format (sorry folks, even all of them together winds up to not be worth the cost of printing in dead tree).  This was the best way I felt I could give both the dead tree AND e-book users a little something special… print readers get a little head start on never-before-seen content, while my e-book readers will be able to have all the short stories at their little fingers with the flick of a button… just a little while down the road.

It’ll be 99 cents.  Really.  I won’t be breaking any wallets here.  Promise.

Thanks again for reading… hopefully it won’t take too long for The Endtimer’s Legacy to be ready to read!