True confession: I’m working on a fantasy novel. I’m not sure why it feels weird to admit that – there’s nothing shameful in the endeavor, but it still gives me a funny feeling to say, and it shouldn’t. If we ignore the short stories, the first attempt I ever made at a novel was a fantasy novel. I called it the WindWeaver Saga, and there is much to it that would better be left forgotten. And yet while I try and outline my current project, I find elements that I had worked out for WW surfacing. Some are simply places (The Sea of Gath), others are objects (the Sceptered Sword). The problem I always had with that novel – and there were many, many attempted starts at it – was with the characters. Coming up with places and objects is relatively easy. But the people that make it a story always eluded me. Sure, I could come with some names, even a few motives, but nothing that ever gave them depth or purpose in moving forward.
But lately I’ve been giving this idea some thought, something I’m calling “genre bending.” Its not a new concept per se, although I don’t know if anyone else has labeled it already [*see parting comment*]. The concept behind genre bending is taking a mix of genres to tell your story. The traditional fantasy novel, for example, is the classic boy on quest. Sure, you can substitute boy with girl, or grizzled veteran, but the end result is Person A on quest against Evil B. And yes, generally speaking, it is a story of Good versus Evil. There is no grey in the mass market published fantasy realms. Generally. Back to my point. Maybe the point of that quest is to obtain the magic spoon, or ring, or sword, but the story is ultimately about Person A against Evil B with the magic prop as their aid. Reads almost like a messed up game of Clue (Frodo did it in Mordor with the One Ring). But lately, I’ve noticed a lot of Science Fiction that attempts to do this genre bending (as I refer to it), blending elements of other genres to make a new kind of story.
Yes, I realize it actually isn’t a new phenomenon per se. Maybe its just that there’s a critical mass of fiction out there now that makes it more evident. Richard Morgan comes to mind, with his sci-fi noir Takeshi Kovacs novels. Maybe its just my imagination, but hey, that’s what we need to try and tell a story. Either way, the thought that has been seeping into my mind is that there’s a whole world of stories available, just as soon as I flush the tripe generality away.
Enter the story I’m working on making an outline for (which, by the way, though a slower process than I would have thought, is definitely helping me give thought – and corrections – to the flow of my story). As I mentioned, its a fantasy, though I doubt it will reach the same volume of what’s currently on the market. Most fantasy novels are 500-1000 pages long; not too likely I’m going to tell a story that long (maybe I will, but I wouldn’t wager on it). A good deal of fantasy novels are multi volume epics these days, a fact the reader doesn’t usually mind; I’d like to tell this story in a single volume.
Of course, as I write that, I wonder how reasonable that last goal is. The worldbuilding I’m currently doing certainly has the capacity to be a multi-volume epic. All the elements are there – distant and mysterious empire, prophetic motivations, maybe even a spice of magic. But can I contain this story in one volume and not break my fingers in the process?
Enter the genre bending concept. I’d like to bring to the fore a story that feels fresh, that doesn’t rely on old truisms of the genre. Maybe I won’t succeed – it sure is easy to type this laudable goal at an ungodly hour of the morning (and why, oh why, couldn’t I just sleep this once?), and something all together different to actually stop talking and put words to screen, as it were. My goal for this week, or at least the next four days, is just to finish the first draft (and keep in my mind that it is just a draft, not carved in stone and set forth as Law) of this outline. The only “writing” I’m letting myself do right now is either in the outline, or in the notes section – no actual story writing permitted until I finish the outline.
That’s a rule that’s really hard to stick to, by the way. For someone who has always just shot out into the dark with pen and paper (or keyboard and screen) and started writing a story from the cuff with just a vague notion of what’s going on, and no clue as to where the story is headed, holding back the urge to write is rough. I didn’t have this rule when I started toying with the concepts for this book, but luckily reeled myself in after I’d shot out about 5K worth of words, realizing I needed a direction. The irony to my steadfast refusal to attempt to generating content right now is that some of that make it as you go text introduced a character I hadn’t anticipated, who in outlining has become one of the main characters. Can’t win for trying.
I hope to write on here by Friday that the outline is done and I’m ready to dive into filling out the text that makes sense of the structure. I completely expect that either I won’t make it, or that I will rush myself to meet this artificial deadline so I can get on with the fun part (writing), and that either way I will see myself on the fourth revision of the outline by the time next weekend is over.
OK, enough morning brain dumping for me. A quick Google as I wrap this post up reveals that A) although I came up with the phrase independently and all on my lonesome, it was already an established term and B) A, with the addition that this isn’t original at all. But since this post veered off the stated subject early on, no harm done 🙂 Have a good morning/week kids,
Uncle Mike