Every once in a while, something comes along that changes things for the better.
And in the world of writers, this can mean the difference between finishing that manuscript or letting it languish, because we all know just how much sweat, courage and persistence it takes to write a book and then release it into the world.
Today, I’ve got a treat for you. It’s a new website which I hope will help my fellow writers brainstorm stronger characters, craft deeper, more compelling plots, and teach us how to be more effective with our description so we draw readers in. It’s already become an invaluable tool for me and I think you’ll find it’s the same for you.
One Stop For Writers is a collaboration between Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman, authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, and Lee Powell, creator of Scrivener for Windows. This powerhouse online library is filled with one-of-a-kind descriptive thesaurus collections, tools, tutorials and much more, all geared to provide the resources you need to strengthen your prose and write more efficiently.
Want to check One Stop For Writers out?
Hop on over to Writers Helping Writers for their Launch Week festivities (October 7-14th)! If you know Angela, Lee and Becca already, you probably can guess there will be some great prizes, and probably a bit of paying-it-forward too.
Next week look for my complete review of the site and what it offers.
I had an interesting conversation with a trans guy who is a friend of mine. He was talking about how he’s both pleased, and yet feeling a bit invisible, with recent increases in trans stories out in the public eye.
The easiest narrative to understand, about being trans, is the one where the little trans girl at the tender age of two and three and four rejects all the boy stuff – the work-boots and football jerseys and toy trucks. She insists on wearing skirts and growing her hair out and wants to play with dolls. And as she grows up, she never wavers from this stance. Eventually, she takes hormones, has surgery, and becomes the feminine dress-wearing, nailpolished girl she always wanted to be. And the little trans boy cuts his own hair short, won’t wear a skirt, and wants a football helmet for his birthday.
Above is my commitment for this year and I thought I’d expand on it a bit because I find the choice of wording isn’t as inclusive as it should be. You might notice the I used the MOGAI definition in my statement. I feel this is much more inclusive and less cumbersome than the LGBT+ acronym. So it will also be my goal to make MOGAI more visible and to promote its use so that asexuals and others not included in LGBT will feel a part of the community.
If you have suggestions on ways I can be more inclusive in my writing, I welcome your comments.
A truly complex and layered plot is not something you can whip up in a day of brainstorming. What you can come up with is a premise and basic plot arc. Notice I said basic.
So what makes a plot complex? Adding more characters? Adding more events? More conflict? More themes?
Yes. All of the above. You cannot just throw one element at a plot in multitudes and expect the plot to suddenly seem complex. More than likely it will just be confusing. A truly complex plot is a careful balance of theme, character, subplot, subtext, narrative arc and premise. A truly complex plot has layers and those layers can’t just lay on top of each other, they have to connect and be intertwined and relate back to each other in every way relevant to the main story arc.
Does it sound hard? Good. It is. Writing is work. Get used to it.
What is your premise and basic plot? Pick your plot. I recommend just pulling one from this list. No plots are “original” so making yours interesting and complicated will easily distract from that fact, that and interesting characters. Characters will be something for you to work on another day, because this is plotting day. You’ll want the main plot to be fairly straight forward, because a confusing main plot will doom you if you want subplots.
Plot is something happening to someone. Without the someone to react to the something there is no plot. You need to know today who this stuff is happening to or you don’t have a plot. The 36 Dramatic Situations is a nice jumping off point. Having a complicated main plot isn’t going to hurt anything as long as you can sum it up in one sentence. More importantly in order to pull off a complicated main plot you need to know intimately WHO this happens to and why. Don’t be afraid to mix and match the 36 Dramatic Situations to come up with something unique.
Decide who the characters will be. They don’t have to have names at this point. You don’t even need to know who they are other than why they have to be in the story. The more characters there are the more complicated the plot will be. If you intend to have more than one subplot, then you’ll want more characters. Multiple interconnected subplots will give the illusion that the story is very complicated and will give the reader a lot of different things to look at at all times. It also gives you the chance to develop many side characters. The plot I worked out yesterday had 13 characters, all were necessary. Decide their “roles” don’t bother with much else. This seems shallow, but this is plot. Plot is shallow.
Now, decide what drives each character. Why specifically are they in this story? You can make this up. You don’t even know these characters yet. Just so long as everyone has their own motivations, you’re in the clear.
More characters doesn’t always equal a more complex plot. You can have as few as two named characters and have a complex plot. It depends on who they are and what they are doing. It is crucial to know why the character is doing what they are doing in the story. Having multiple interconnecting subplots is one way to create depth to the story, but if they are there just to give the illusion of substance then they are superfluous and should be cut. Deciding a character’s role in the plot is crucial as is their personality and how they are going to act and react to the events of the plot. They are what drives the plot forward so you have to know them and what is going to motivate them beyond their perceived ‘role’ in the narrative.
Shallow plots are boring plots. Dig deeper. Find that core. Find the true motivation for your character and why they are in this situation. True complexity will flow from how well you’ve crafted your character and how three dimensional you have made them.
What aren’t these characters giving away right off the bat? Give them a secret! It doesn’t have to be something that they are actively lying about or trying to hide, just find something that perhaps ties them into the plot or subplot. This is a moment to dig into subplot. This does not need to be at all connected to their drive to be present in the story. Decide who is in love with who, what did this person do in the 70’s that’s coming back to bite them today, and what continues to haunt what-his-face to this very day. This is where you start to see the characters take shape. Don’t worry much about who they are or what they look like, just focus on what they’re doing to the story.
Backstory and character motivation are as inseparable as character and plot. Their actions, reactions and motivations are going to decide where the plot goes. Their ‘secret’ might work better as a backstory wound that affects how they deal with the events of the story. It must absolutely tie into the plot and maybe even a couple of sub plots. Otherwise it’s going to seem cheap and tacked on and your reader will feel cheated.
If a subplot doesn’t directly relate to the main characters or the main plot arc in some way, cut it. It should either emphasize the theme, help with characterization, mirror the main arc or in some other way enhance the narrative. Anything else is useless drivel. Don’t just throw in a random sub plot because you think it makes the plot more complicated. It doesn’t.
What is going to change these characters? Now this will take some thinking. Everyone wants at least a few of the characters to come out changed by the end of the story, so think, how will they be different as a result of the plot/subplot? It might not be plot that changes them, but if you have a lot of characters, a few changes that are worked into the bones of the plot might help you.
If this happens to one of the main characters it is known as the character arc and is often a sub plot of the main narrative. It will be important to fully understand your character’s motivation and backstory to fully realize what changes about them and why and how it relates to the main or sub plots.
Now list out the major events of the novel with subplot in chronological order. This will be your timeline. Especially list the historical things that you want to exist in backstory. List everything you can think of. Think about where the story is going. At this point, you likely haven’t focused too much on the main plot, yeah, it’s there, but now really focus on the rising actions, how this main plot builds its conflict, then the climactic moment. Make sure you get all of that in there. This might take a few hours.
A synopsis is worth having with a complex plot and multiple subplots. It will be crucial to have the outline to know if you have hit all the major plot points. I highly recommend using Jami Gold’s Beat Sheets to help with this. This part of planning a novel will likely take a few days if you put any real effort into it and things will probably need to be reworked multiple times.
Decide where to start writing. This part will take a LOT of thinking. It’s hard! But now that you’ve got the timeline, pick an interesting point to begin at. Something with action. Something relevant. Preferably not at the beginning of your timeline – you want to have huge reveals later on where these important things that happened prior are exposed. This is the point where you think about what information should come out when. This will be a revision of your last list, except instead of being chronological, it exists to build tension.
The opening scene of the novel must grab the reader and throw them into the middle of the action. If you are using the beat sheets you will see where you need to start, somewhere just before everything changes for the main character.
Once you’ve gotten the second list done, you’ve got a plot. Does it need work? Probably. But with that said, at this point you probably have no idea who half your characters are. Save that for tomorrow, that too will be a lot of work.
If you don’t have a very, very good idea who your characters are by now you need to go back and fix that. Ideally take a day to figure out your premise and theme or themes, then spend another few days figuring who your characters should be and ways to make them unique, then spend a week or four figuring out what all happens when and why.
I highly recommend using the Positive and Negative Character Trait Thesauri by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi to begin crafting your characters.
A basic straightforward plot can be easily done in a day. However do not expect to plan a complex novel with multiple characters, themes and subplots in a day. You’ll end up with a tangled mess that will be a chore to write and even worse to read.
I want to welcome the amazing Lisa Medley to my blog this week!
I’ve been in love with monsters for a long time, since I first started reading Stephen King ages ago. But it was J.R. Ward’s Dark Lover which made me realize monsters in LOVE were even better. That book sent my imagination reeling. I don’t discriminate. I want love for vampires, shifters, witches and of course, reapers.
While deciding what sort of monsters I wanted to write about, I started with vampires because…well…VAMPIRES. I didn’t orginally sit down to write a book about reapers. Reapers aren’t sexy. Reapers are death. And skeletal. And…grim. When I gave the first 30K of my first real novel attempt to my BFF, her reply was, “It’s good, but what makes it different?”
Erm, nothing. Same old story. Same old (okay, old but HOT vampires). I was not adding anything new to the species. I needed something fresh. Something that might stand out in a crowded field of paranormal monsters in love.
I chose reapers. There aren’t too many authors out there writing reapers, although it’s growing! I love how we’ve all approached our worldbuilding in such different ways. Once I chose a monster, then I set out to make them better. Still human-looking but human DELUXE! Lots of dark potential there. I sat down and got to work making a world for them to live in, threw in some demons, an evil fallen angel and the Reaper Series was born.
The dark hero speaks to me, and when I find him in the shadows, it’s my job to bring him into the light, sometimes kicking and screaming. Reading urban fantasy and paranormal romance makes me crave contact with the things that go bump in the night. Don’t fear the reaper, because reapers need love too.
With three completed books in the Reaper Series, which will publish this year, I’m taking a break and my current project is a paranormal ghost romance called Haunt My Heart. It’s a departure from the Reaper Series world and will be a stand-alone book. I project it to be in the 70-80K range. I’m 40K into it, and my ghostly hero has only now made physical contact for the first time. Ghost heroes are…complicated. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
After Haunt My Heart is finished, then it’s back to the reapers. I have at least seven more characters waiting for their stories to be told.
My writing process is a work in progress itself. The first book I totally pantsed. The second, I collected sticky notes from the nether regions: car, desk, notebooks, bathroom mirror and compiled them into a list. I sorted, shuffled, added, and subtracted until … HOLY COW, I had a plot! Things moved along quickly after that. For my third book I made that plot list FIRST and included a whole bunch of “What if” questions. Then I picked the ones that made sense and worked them into the story. Somehow it all magically tied together all three books. I’m fairly certain most of that was divine intervention.
On Haunt My Heart, I wrote a bona fide five page synopsis. Now at the halfway point, I’ve mostly followed it but discovered I needed to speed up some of the later elements and add a few plot twists to carry it through to the 75-80K I’m shooting for.
It’s tough when your hero and heroine don’t meet in person until halfway through the book. The good news is they have a lot of ground to make up and this second half is going to smoke.
I write mostly at night after the family has gone to bed. Usually I stay up from 8:30 or 9 p.m. until midnight writing or working on writing related things: blog posts, social media or actual word accumulation on a novel.
I average about 500 words an hour but strive for 1000. My record was 4,700 in one day. That was epic. I’m just happy for forward progress. I’m really working to speed up my overall novel completion. The first three books took me six months each to write. If I didn’t have a day job, I could do it in three or less I’m sure. It’s tough juggling all those balls: family, day job, home, writing. But I have a great support group and so far so good.
It’s often considered that science and religion cannot be in the same room without a fight breaking out. Yet, many aspects of science fiction involve belief in a greater power or veneration of something. In fantasy it’s often a given that there will be a religious aspect, some stories even involving gods/goddesses themselves. Science fiction hasn’t shied away from this either often exploring themes of faith, recreating history and delving into deeply religious cultures. Yet science fiction in general is seen to be the antithesis of spirituality. One cannot be analytically and religious at the same time. One is said to be exclusive of the other. Science dealing with fact and observable phenomenon while religion deals with faith and belief in the things unseen.
Many people have used science fiction to explore religion, either to deride and mock it or to question it’s place in our cultures. It cannot be ignored that humans have an innate desire to look to something greater. It’s shown in every culture, race and people the world over. This is often reflected in our literature.
As an avid fan of the Transformers franchise in all it’s forms I’ve noticed something. I’m not the only one either. Many fans have pointed out the fact that the base story line in Transformers can be compared to the Christian allegory. Optimus Prime as the Savior who is sacrificed. Megatron as the devil from the Pit bent on world domination. Being either an Autobot or a Decepticon has over arcing moral implications. The Cybertronian culture as a whole was very religious for a bunch of oversize sentient robots. They had their gods The Primes.
It was a deeply personal decision for a Cybertronian when it came to choosing a faction to join. According to the new aligned continuity most of the Decepticons came from the working class or the slave laborers in the Pits. Megatron promised freedom from the elitist tyranny that had existed for eon. Then he granted it, but at a tremendous price. Many Cybertronians looked upon him as a god, their Savior. Others new differently. The true Savior had to be chosen by the Matrix. The Matrix chose Orion Pax the humble clerk not Megatronus the proud gladiator.
If any of this sounds familiar, it should. Its the same trope used in Star Wars and many fantasy novels/series. The unsuspecting and humble hero is plucked from obscurity and told Destiny awaits. Its the story of the Messiah told with metal and energon instead of flesh and blood. Star Wars had Jedi and Sith instead of angels and demons.
Religion factors heavily into everyone’s life whether they are aware of it or not. Science fiction doesn’t gloss over this and shouldn’t. We crave a god but also fear having to be responsible to that god. Just be glad it’s not Megatron.
Something has been nagging me lately. A disquiet that I wasn’t sure how to quell. So, this morning I decided to write the final scene of Sorrow’s Fall from Sarin’s viewpoint. This might have been a bad idea because it was intense.
Warning: Major Spoilers for Sorrow’s Fall including the end and several major revelations. Do not read if you have not read the book.
The book is only $.99 on Amazon so fix that then come read this. 😉
Below is the music playlist I wrote the scene to. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Killing Sorrow
The air hung thick and heavy with the smell of ozone. Blaster fire seared the air. The Hyperian shock troopers were no match for the Sal’Ori but they just kept coming. Holding a hand to my side to stem the flow of blood I tried to locate Sorrow. I’d never imagined he would be powerful enough to kill an Ancient. Even as an Amalgam I’d been helpless before her. Rinkin and Diedre had received the worst of it. It would take some time to heal from Ophelia’s poison.
Sorrow was several yards away on his hands and knees in the grass. Qadira stood over him. She was saying something, but I couldn’t quite make it out. His dark hair was much shorter, barely brushing his shoulders. I wondered who had cut it and how they’d known it would hamper him. The dark vest he was wearing glittered with blood, more pooled under him. She’d already stabbed him twice from what I’d seen. How was he still moving?
“No!” Sorrow’s voice reached me clearly. Whatever she was saying it was upsetting him enough to drive him to speak. I started forward grabbing up a discarded phase rifle as he got to his feet. He staggered a few steps his determination flickering around the edges of his aura. It wasn’t as tumultuous as I remembered. He’d managed to find some emotional balance.
“…the fact that you are already powerful enough to kill an Ancient will please Grandmother.”
I steeled myself and pointed the rifle at Qadira. “And that is why we cannot ever let him fall into your hands again, Qadira.”
She laughed and took a few steps back as she looked at me. She wasn’t going to take me seriously. Swallowing hard I looked at Sorrow. He was so different now. Rinkin and Diedre had done a lot to help him but that darkness was still there, just waiting to be unleashed. I’d just witnessed how devastating it could be. What would happen if it was used-if he was used to further the war? He had no control. He would obey any order given by someone in authority over him. I would have to report this to Zaryfa. Her plan had failed. There was no way to save him.
Her only grandson. The first male child born in nearly three generations. And I was going to have to kill him. Drake had done too good of a job rendering him useless as anything but a weapon. Even though I had seen the potential within him, he couldn’t see it for himself. Gods why did it have to be me? The rifle shook in my hands as I selected my new target. He was facing Qadira his back to me. He trusted me. Why in the seven Hells did he have to trust me?
He staggered forward as the bolt hit him in the back. His shock lit up the area blinding me for a moment. Oh gods. I pulled the trigger again watching him sink to his knees. Gods this can’t be happening. Please don’t make me have to kill him. Please. I’ll do anything. Anything at all just don’t make me kill him.
The choice is not yours child. Zaryfa’s voice reached me from the ship orbiting overhead. He must die.
But he’s your grandson.
And Qadira is my granddaughter.
Why can’t I kill her?!
We spoke of this Sarin. She cannot become a martyr for the Purists. He has to die. Implicate me as you must for those who are listening.
Yes, My Queen.
So, you’re going to kill him yourself, is that it?”
Sorrow’s fear and pain was difficult to ignore as I stepped closer to him. My throat was tight and speaking took effort. “If I have to I will. I may not be able to defeat you right now, but I will take away your chance of using him. If I had not seen him transform like that I would never have believed it, but he is too dangerous of a being to be allowed to live. No one should have that kind of power.”
Especially not you, I thought to myself. She was already more powerful than any Barendi before her. If she succeeded in gaining Sorrow’s help either willingly or not, there would be no stopping her. The Hyperia would fall and with it the fragile balance with the outlying systems. It would be the chaos of the Clan War all over again. Only this time the galaxy itself might be destroyed.
“You have no idea Sarin. Why do you think Our Queen destroyed the Aram when she had the chance? This,” She pointed a finger at Sorrow, “this is the embodiment of what they were. Beings so beautiful and powerful they had to be destroyed at all costs. Yet, who could have foreseen the price? I know why you feel you must rebel. All the clans are dying out Sarin, not just yours. The Queen is well aware of this. That is why she allowed him to be born, why he was not aborted the instant it was discovered what he is. She will make sure that the clans prosper once more. The Barendi will once again rule the galaxy as they did centuries ago. You Baroness, could have your place in that galaxy.”
It wasn’t even a temptation. She had no idea who was working to thwart her. I looked down at Sorrow. He was staring up at me blood trickling out of his mouth as he fought to breathe. I could feel him trying to reach out to me, soft tendrils of disbelief and anguish. He’d thought I was dead. I could see the flicker of relief fading as he continued to look at me. I blinked back tears, forcing down the searing pain in my chest. I’d already felt him die once, I wasn’t sure I’d survive a second time. I kept the rifle pointed at him watching the hope fade from his eyes. His aura was flickering between fear, pain and despair. I kept myself tightly shielded. If he or Qadira discovered what I was actually doing all our plans would fail. Xenazia’s mental touch caressed my mind, her concern flooding me.
“Sarin, don’t!” Xenazia pleaded, “Didn’t you hear what she said! We could save our clan. He’s no threat to us any longer.”
“She is a liar Xenazia. You know as well as I do that we are both dead no matter what happens. The only thing I can do is make sure Zaryfa cannot use him to make war on the rest of the galaxy.”
“There has to be another way, Sarin please!”
“What other way, Xen?” I screamed at her part of me needing some outlet for this horrible pain, “Tell me another way then.”
“I . . . I don’t know.”
Qadira snorted, “You are pathetic. Hurry up and be done with it, or I’ll kill you both where you stand.”
“You are going to anyway so what does it matter?”
She laughed again. A horrid gloating sound, “I’ll let you live as long as you kill him.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. It almost became a sob as I felt Sorrow give up. His will flickering out like a snuffed flame. I wanted to scream at him to tell him to run, if only to save myself from having to do this. I wanted so badly to touch him. To comfort him and tell him how much he meant to me. To tell him that I would always love him, love that part of him that tried so desperately to be more than what he was allowed. I blinked, tears burning down my cheeks. Taking a step closer I raised the rifle to point it at his head. I couldn’t let him suffer any more. He looked up at me his eyes pleading and my resolve threatened to disappear.
I can’t do this Zaryfa. I can’t.
There was no answer. I stared down into those deep green eyes and wondered when I’d fallen so completely.
“I never meant to hurt you.” I could barely get the words out, “I wish-I wish so desperately things could be different. Goodbye, Sorrow.”
Closing my eyes I pulled the trigger.
There was a soft thump. I didn’t dare open my eyes yet. Tears were still streaming down, I couldn’t stop them any more than I could block out the cold pull of his energy evaporating as he died.
The rifle thudded to the ground next to me. Qadira made a soft sound and I opened my eyes to see her kneeling next to him.
“I can’t believe you actually killed him.” Her voice was soft, full of wonder. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like when he died.”
It felt like winter, like the infinite cold of space, like being ripped apart from the inside. Nothing would ever be the same.
“Are you happy now?” I choked on the words.
She cocked her head up at me. “Happy? You just killed my brother. My twin brother…this really hurts.”
“You expected something different Qadira?” I’d forgotten about Sher’Ak. “You spent all those years forging that bond and then expected to be able to sever it at a whim without backlash?”
She got to her feet but I didn’t miss the tremble. Her eyes glistened as she looked at me. She looked terrible. It seemed Sorrow had gotten in a few hits of his own. “I won’t kill you Sarin but you are still a traitor.”
I didn’t move as she turned and walked back toward one of the Barendi drop ships. I wanted to throw up. Sher’Ak was glaring at me.
“Nicely done Baroness.”
“Do not speak to me.”
“Sarin, lets go. There is nothing more-“
“Just…leave me for a moment Xen. I need a moment.”
“Of course.”
Sher’Ak snorted. “Stupid. What a waste. Do me a favor Baroness and never contact me again. I might kill you.”
I nodded but my entire focus was on Sorrow. Collapsing on my knees next to him I reached a trembling hand toward him. How had this happened? I could still remember the first time I saw him. The jolt at realizing who and what he was had left me reeling for days. I was supposed to be his guardian, not his murderer. A sob caught in my throat as I ran my fingers through his hair. What was I supposed to do now? How was I supposed to go on? Slipping my arms around him I pulled him close. He was limp and warm and I was reminded of the last time I’d killed him. Stopped his heart with a kiss. I wasn’t going to get another chance to hold him. I clung desperately to that memory as I shook with sobs. He’d always been so brilliant and powerful but now there was nothing. No bright colors and shimmering energy. Staring down at him through the tears I knew I would never feel like this about another being. I’d never meant to hurt him. At least now he felt no pain and could finally rest.
“I’m so sorry-so sorry.”
How long I stayed there holding him, I’m not sure. When I finally let him go his body was cold, the once brilliant green eyes faded and dull. I kissed him and brushed the hair back from his face. The blaster burn was an ugly mark on his forehead and I resisted touching it, wanting to erase it. Doing so wouldn’t fix what I’d done.
“We need to go Sarin.” Xenazia’s voice was soft, her mental touch hesitant.
“I-I can’t just leave him here like this.”
“Sarin, please. He’s dead. There is nothing you can do.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Her mental touch faded but she didn’t move away, instead wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I couldn’t fight her as she pulled me to my feet.
I cannot do this My Queen.
You must child. Believe me when I say it was for the best.
Sorrow’s Fall is available on Amazon in both paper back and digital. Audio book coming soon to Audible.com.
Before I get started, I want to warn those who might not have watched Supernatural, this post is basically one big long spoiler.
As a writer I find Castiel‘s character fascinating and exceedingly complicated. I know some people disagree, I have only to scroll through the 100s of tweets I got earlier this month for confirmation of this. They feel he has no place in the narrative and should be removed as a character.
What they are refusing to see is actually taking away a huge chunk of the narrative. It would be like reading The Hunger Games and ignoring Peeta, or watching Iron Man and ignoring Pepper, or playing Devil May Cry and ignoring Virgil. His character is integral to the plot and has been since 4:1.
The wiki has a nice explanation of what a protagonist is, but I would like to expound on it a little bit more.
So first who is the protagonist?
Well it could be one person or several people depending on the story and plot. Supernatural started with two main characters; Sam and Dean. Sam was the clear protagonist because he was the one with the most to lose, his girlfriend, budding career, et cetera. Dean was a catalyst, almost a foil for Sam to react against. Dean was already set in his way. The pilot episode showed Sam as the clear protagonist by taking away all he held dear and forcing him into a life he did not want. The audience was meant to sympathize and identify with him where Dean was more the mentor role. He was Gandalf to Sam’s Frodo, the one who showed up and once again altered his world.
Sam was the more emotionally accessible of the two which also helped the audience to relate. During the second season their roles became more interchangeable, they each took turns being the protagonist and this helped to develop their characters.
By season three there wasn’t as much characterization happening because the two main characters were no longer the protagonists. They no longer fit the definition. This left the writers scrambling to come up with season arc that would still have some sort of meaning. The stakes had to be raised and one of the brothers had to be reinstated as the protagonist. The opening of the Hell Gate put the world in danger but neither of the brothers had anything to lose at this point, Dean had already sold his soul. Sam was resurrected, John was dead and Bobby was doing what he’d done for years. Dean and Sam were main characters but not the protagonists at this point. By this point the episodic guests have more to lose than either of the main characters and are more emotionally accessible.
Its not until the last few episodes of season 3 that Dean emerges as the protagonist. His time is running out and they are beginning to realize that there is nothing they can do to stop him from being taken to Hell as Ruby warned them. He has the most to lose at this point with Sam working to prevent it.
Season three ends with Dean in Hell and Sam allied with Ruby.
Seems like the end of the story at this point and it very nearly was, until someone came up with the idea to introduce a brand new set of characters. Thus, a whole new dynamic was set up.
Season four opened with a huge shocker. After months of being dead and suffering in hell Dean is resurrected in the most bizarre way. At least bizarre to him and his brother. They and Bobby are at a complete loss as to how Dean is now alive. After a horrible seance where a dear friend is maimed for life trying to get the information all they have is a name. Castiel.
Now things start to get interesting. We still have no clear protagonist except maybe Dean who has his newly restored life/body, or it could be Sam who has his brother back but has been sleeping with Ruby. Sam has the potential to not just lose his brother, but lose his brother’s respect. This still doesn’t make either of them the clear protagonist. Remember the protagonist is the one with the most to lose in the given scenario, the one the audience is expected to connect with emotionally. They are the one who must go through the most change for the sake of the plot. Yet Dean and Sam have changed already. Dean is alive, albeit changed from his time in hell. Sam managed to find a way to continue hunting without Dean, though it involves demon blood. So where is the plot arc and the protagonist for this storyline?
I’m getting to that, keep your panties on, or take them off, I don’t care.
Season four episode one and we are introduced to Castiel. An honest to goodness angel. Of the lord. This is when Dean’s emotional arc is revealed. He lacks faith and doesn’t feel he deserved to be saved due to what he did while in hell. This can be seen as him being tapped as the protagonist, but he has a more reactionary than proactive role. Sam on the other hand is desperate to hide his addiction, this also makes him reactionary instead of proactive. The only proactive person is the angel and we quickly learn that he’s not any ordinary hammer of god. This angel has doubts. He is certain about his role in Dean’s life, but uncertain about the larger picture. For the rest of the season, he will be the protagonist as he has the most to lose.
Castiel remains the protagonist through the end of the season. He has the most to lose, his family, his position in heaven, even his status as an angel and his very life are risked to save Dean and Sam. Unfortunately, we only see him through Dean and Sam’s eyes so a lot of his character development and narrative must be inferred from their interactions. Sam and Dean for their parts are pawns of both Heaven and Hell. Sam is used by Ruby to open Lucifer‘s cage which is where we end Season 4.
Season 5 opens with Sam and Dean mysteriously saved from meeting Lucifer face to face. Sam decides he wants nothing more to do with the hunting life and leaves Dean to continue on his own. Dean and Castiel will now be the two main protagonists. They are proactive trying to find a way to stop Lucifer and the Apocalypse. Sam does eventually rejoin Dean while Castiel leaves to try and find God. This is when the roles switch to some extent. Sam and Dean are finally back to being proactive protagonists. Cas is still a protagonist of his own story arc which is subordinate to and mirrors Sam and Dean’s overall arc.
In the next few seasons his character did create a catch-22 for the writers since he was so powerful and the only way to go was down, so they had to keep coming up with ways to strip him of his powers.
Next time I will discuss seasons 6-8 and how the roles of the various characters changed.
A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. -Arnold H. Glasow
In this age of the digital frontier, making meaningful human connections hasn’t just become a challenge, its a fading art. Those of us who are used to communicating via text message, email, by Facebook or Tumblr have many acquaintances, Those nebulous connections to people we will never see or hear and only know through their words and choice of avatar.
It takes something very special to make a true connection to a person through the internet. More than just shared likes or dislikes, it takes honesty and openness. Something we are taught never to be on the internet. Though the anonymity the internet provides allows those of us who are too shy to speak up in real life, a stage on which to express ourselves. Sometimes when we do so we are shot down, other times we make a friend for life.
It has been my great privilege to meet and get to know three very select people, only one of whom I have met in person. One passed away last year and the other I hope to meet some day.
I am close to each of them in different ways. My friend who passed was a wonderful conversationalist and we would have lengthy discussions on everything from science fiction to particle physics. I miss him greatly.
My other two friends, while younger than myself share a lot of my likes and sensibilities. They are two of the very few people with whom I have shared deeply intimate details about myself. I’ve grown to love both of them dearly and consider them among my very closest friends.
Aya is immensely talented and never ceases to amaze me. She is as beautiful as she is intelligent. Misaki is brilliant and adorable and is able to do things I could never imagine, much less accomplish.
Aya has a very promising career either as an author or a model/actress. She’s overcome a lot in her life and has been there to help me through some of the very toughest moments of mine. I honestly don’t know what I ever did without her.
“Queen of Cocoon” Work done by J’s Design Class Students (ADB) Photography by Saryn Christina Photography
Misaki is studying to be a child psychologist, which just blows me away I couldn’t possibly have more respect for her but she’s constantly proving ever more worthy of it. She has encouraged me to keep writing when I was ready to give up and when I was too depressed to even think about writing. She and I have shared many things with each other.
These are the people who inspire me and keep me writing. This post is dedicated to them.
Today, I’ve got a treat for you. It’s a new website which I hope will help my fellow writers brainstorm stronger characters, craft deeper, more compelling plots, and teach us how to be more effective with our description so we draw readers in. It’s already become an invaluable tool for me and I think you’ll find it’s the same for you.
Bran Lindy Ayres 