How much is too much?

If you can raise the stakes in fiction, you are suppose to do it. This piece of advice is given in almost any book you read about writing. But my questions is, how much is too much?

All throughout high school and my time at Western Washingtion University (WWU), I was into anime. Anime is Japanese animation, and while it is more commonplace than ever in the US today, back in the late '90s/early noughties it was just starting to boom. I became president of WWU's anime club (AIYA!) and even had a high ranking volunteer position in Sakura-Con, the Northwest anime/culture convention. The point of all of this is that some of the highest stakes in stories can be found within the storylines of anime and manga (graphic novels). If something could go wrong for a character, it usually did. I still remember one title--Fushigi Yuugi--that had heartbreak, rape, manipulation, you name it, all woven into the storyline. At the end you still sat wondering if something else could go wrong for any of the main characters. If something wasn't being done to a character, then usually their own angst would kick in, making it even bleaker.

In most anime the story would bounce back up, but it wasn't guaranteed; anime and manga endings were not always happy. Bad things could happen, and sometimes characters couldn't get out of it. Like life, the end result was unpredictable.

However, the emotional ride was so intense it makes me wonder if the same can be done successfully with fiction. With the exception of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, I have yet to see many authors really make their characters suffer as much as possible. Let me make something clear here: Characters shouldn't be tortured for the sake of being tortured. Pushing a character to the brink, on the other hand, is something we all should try to do more often. If the stakes are so high that failure could truly be disasterous or life-changing, then readers become more invovled and drawn in.

I'm not an expert on this by any means, but it's something that I've learned from anime and manga that I hope to be able to implement in all of my stories. Perfect, happy endings aren't all that interesting, no matter how much readers may yearn for it. Writers need to remember to make the storyline as intriguing as possible and granting every fan's wish for one or more characters usually won't accomplish this.

Finding the line between "the limit" and "too much" is a bit trickier.

Melusine's Story

The legend of Melusine (a Breton Faery) was first written down by Jean d’Arras in the 14th century. (You can read one of my favorite versions of the tale here.) The main character of the legend, Melusine, first demanded to have her story told on Wednesday. I was researching which fairy legend to mention in the Otherworld novel I'm writing, and despite the four months between my initial research and now, her story was the first to come to mind.

Okay, so I had a legend to include as a reference in my book. I summarized it and moved on. I managed to type about five more pages before Melusine demanded to tell her story on Thursday. This was the second time. I was about to give up the idea when I decided that a little more research into the legend couldn't hurt. Afterall, I would be using it in my story, so it wasn't a lost cause.

Twenty minutes and a number of websites later, the story began telling itself in my head. Much like with my main character, Zahra, from my short story, "Burden of Discovery," Melusine's story came quickly and needed to be written. I wouldn't get another word of my novel completed until the story was done.

I tried researching 7th century France, coming up with few sources. (Although I will admit that during this time I took a look at the Melusine page on the French Wikipedia. Thank goodness for Google Translator!) Using what knowledge I had of the legend, France, and general European history, I decided to start writing today.

Once I started, I couldn't stop. Some people need detailed outlines to complete a story, but I all I need is a good first sentence. The first sentence is much more than a hook--it dictates where the story starts (or ends) and what tone it will take. With a good first sentence I wrote Burden of Discovery in three days. I expect Melusine to take about the same.

After I hear back about my first submitted short story, I'll have another ready to go. The best part is that it ties into the novel I'm working on. Maybe some day people will be able to enjoy the world of Melusine's family over a thousand years in the future.

My first post of no consequence

This post is merely to welcome my new little blog devoted to my writing. I'm currently trying to publish one of my short stories in the online magazine Strange Horizons, but as with all submissions, there is nothing to do but wait until that email you've been anticipating--yet dreading--arrives.

In the meantime I'm working on my first Otherworld book. I'm nearly 1/3 of the way done, which, considering I've been working on it for a little less than two months, ain't half bad. ^_^ (Of course, if I'm honest, I did do about two months of research before I even started writing) I may write a short story about one of the characters mentioned in this book as sort of a stand-alone prequel. Of course, we'll see how that goes...

And now I must follow my golden rule of successful writing: Make yourself write. It is too easy to procrastinate and do nothing, believe me.