There
are three primary schools of thought when it comes to writing a novel,
pointing to the two extremes available, and the road between them. The
two diverging ways are affectionately called the Plotter and the
Panster, while the third way is largely unnamed, being a mingling of the
others.
The
Plotter creates intricate plans of how the story will be told, from
chapter summaries to, in the more extreme examples, a synopsis of the
entire book, scene by scene. An author with this approach might spend
just as much time with the outline, rewriting and revising it, than the
finished product itself. The framework is put firmly in place, and then
the rest is filled in until the book is complete.
The
Pantser, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach. A theme or
character might pop into mind and the author sits down and goes with the
flow, seeing where it brings him or her, often being as surprised by
the story as the reader will be later. In some cases the author does not
even have any sliver of an idea for the book at all, but simply opens
up a blank page and begins an exercise almost like automatic writing.
My
experience and research suggests that authors are usually somewhere
between these two extremes, rarely entirely at one end or the other, but
that we tend to lean more towards one approach, while in some cases the
preference depends on the book in question.
A
good example of the ambiguity of approaches to writing is J.R.R.
Tolkien, whom many would, at the outset, consider a Plotter, given the
sheer volume of planning that went into The Lord of the Rings and his other writings, not to mention the numerous appendices.
However, his own words speak differently. In his Foreword to The Fellowship of the Ring,
Tolkien said: “This tale grew in the telling…” He clarified later: “As
the story grew it put down roots (into the past) and threw out
unexpected branches: but its main theme was settled from the outset…”
Here
we see then that Tolkien, like many writers, had a primary idea in
mind, but did not know all of the details before the writing process
began. When the pen was put to the page, with the intent of driving a
character to a particular event or experience, things began to take
shape in unintended ways.
Personally,
I usually come up with a seed idea, something that thematically sets
the stage for everything that will follow, or, as is often the case,
precede it. The thought that will germinate into a story for me is often
how it ends, and I work backwards in my mind to where the story must
start in order to bring about that ending. With the A and Z in place,
there is sufficient confinement, a reasonably wide, yet not too broad,
vessel in which to contain the story; many, and perhaps all, of the
letters in-between remain unknowns until they are encountered.
Likewise,
a story may begin with a character, who is then dropped into a world or
placed in a scenario in which they, with their unique personality, must
respond. Often the thoughts, words or actions of these characters are
initially shocking to the author, yet make perfect sense in retrospect,
when the author considers that the character, with his or her various
personality quirks, can act no other way. Thus the character comes alive
and drives the story, while the author merely records it, hoping to
capture the events as they unfold, and hoping to deliver to the reader
something approximating the experience the author undergoes—the
experience of life and living, through the eyes of another.
THE DYING BREATH. THE DYING WILL. THE DYING HOPE.
After
the catastrophe of the Call of Agon, Ifferon and his companions find
themselves in the unenviable situation of witnessing, and partaking in,
the death of another god—this time Corrias, the ruler of the Overworld.
With
Corrias locked inside the corpse of the boy Théos, he suffers a fate
worse than the bonds of the Beast Agon. Yet hope is kindled when the
company find a way to restore the boy, and possibly the god, back to
life.
The
road to rebirth has many pitfalls, and there are some who consider such
meddling with the afterlife a grave risk. The prize might be life
anew—but the price might also be a second death.
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Genre - Epic Fantasy
Rating – PG
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