Day
late. Sorry. Still recovering from the move. It’s just this sort of ongoing project...
Anyway, an
idea crossed my mind recently and—after batting it around for a bit—I thought
it might be worth sharing with all of you.
A while
back I talked a bit about a certain type of character—the chosen one. That lucky person pretty much
preordained for a great destiny. Sometimes literally preordained. Ancient scrolls and prophecies aren’t that
uncommon, although there are also legendary parents and preternatural skills to
take into account.
The most
common beginning for such a story is, after a chapter or two establishing their completely normal and mundane life, somebody shows up to
collect said chosen one and whisk them off to that amazing destiny we were just talking about.
And that’s
kinda the bit I want to talk about.
I think
it’s very important to note that our chosen one’s story doesn’t begin because
of some overwhelming threat. It’s almost
always for simpler reasons. They're finally the right age. They found the
hidden room. They inherited that special
book or locket or sword.
You might be able to find an exception to this rule, sure, but let’s go over a few popular examples...
You might be able to find an exception to this rule, sure, but let’s go over a few popular examples...
Buffy
Summers doesn’t receive her Slayer calling because the Master is rising in
Sunnydale—the last Slayer died and she inherited the power. That’s it.
Harry
Potter isn’t brought to Hogwarts to fight Voldemort—he’s only brought cause
it’s his birthday and he’s old enough to start classes.
Katniss
doesn’t take her sister’s place to become the symbol of the resistance—she just
happens to be successful in the Hunger Games in the right way at the right
time.
Luke
doesn’t join the Rebellion to blow up the Death Star.
Rey didn’t
join the resistance to fight Kylo Ren.
Jay didn’t
join the MIB to stop an Arcturian Battle Cruiser.
I think the
reason for this is that if X is this overwhelming threat... all these training
montages and bonding moments are going to seem like a horrible waste of time. “Wow, Phoebe’s the chosen one—the
one who was foreseen—who will save us from the murderous threat of the Yakkonator. Even now it closes in on our city of three
million people, ready to drain their blood and harvest their souls. But
first... you need to practice your footwork for a few days. Also, you and Wakko need to figure out how to
be better partners—in every sense. Focus on that for a bit.”
One of the big tricks to a successful chosen one story is that it’s really two parallel stories. It’s about Phoebe discovering her destiny/parentage/abilities, yeah, but it’s also about our heroes discovering, oh, crap, it looks like the Yakkonator is waking up now, not in 2021.
One of the big tricks to a successful chosen one story is that it’s really two parallel stories. It’s about Phoebe discovering her destiny/parentage/abilities, yeah, but it’s also about our heroes discovering, oh, crap, it looks like the Yakkonator is waking up now, not in 2021.
These
threads need to stay separate so they can each develop on their own. Phoebe needs that time to train and grow as a
character, because if all we need to do is toss a nineteen year old Banana
Republic clerk in front of the Yakkonator—trained or not—to fulfill her
destiny, then the Yakkonator isn’t much of a threat, is it? And if she
absolutely needs training but the Sacred Order of Antiyakkination waited until
the last possible minute to bring her into the fold... seriously, what’s wrong
with these guys? If you’re trying to fit
six years of training into six days, maybe you just could’ve started six years
ago? These people just look stupid now. And if she needs those years
of training but pulls it off in days... well, aren’t we back at that first
example again?
So when I’m
plotting out a great destiny to for my chosen one, I need to remember not to
tie them immediately to that destiny.
Give them space to grow. Maybe
not hit them up with that ultimate evil in the first hour or two.
Everyone’ll
have more fun with it that way.
Next time, I’d
like to encourage you to take a few deep breaths.
Until
then... go write.
Makes sense to me! Apart from anything else I always love a slow burner of a story. In fact (and maybe I'm just trying to flatter you!) I continually hold up 14 as a great example of a slow burner.
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