May 2, 2021

Dilemmas and choices...

The central character in the current project, Jaysin, exhausted in his search for his brother, camps in the early pre-dawn hours in a small glade. Certain events and circumstances surround his situation. He found an abandoned wolf pup and is attempting to care for it. Kermakkian soldiers – the enemy – were seen on the road. Because the soldiers are on the move, there is a chance his brother, Chasse, is in serious trouble. Unable to stay awake, Jaysin falls asleep. When he wakes, he sees a figure moving through the trees, and then another, and realises he is surrounded by soldiers. The wolf pup, frightened by the humans, creeps toward Jaysin. A Kermakkian soldier takes crossbow aim on the pup.
 
So, here’s the dilemma – for the writer. How will Jaysin react? What will be the consequences of his reaction? He has arcane ability, but he’s no warrior. What will be the best choice for moving the story forward?
 
Plot-wise, ultimately, I must have Jaysin reach the capital city. Although this incident in the story is long before the endpoint, Jaysin’s identity and reputation among the Kermakkians might be influenced by what happens.
 
I see these options laid out in the situation:

1. Jaysin is too frightened to act. The pup is shot. He is taken prisoner.
2. Jaysin’s love for animals overrides his fear. He kills the Kermakkian soldier with a spell before he can shoot the pup. A fight ensues. Jaysin is taken prisoner with the blood of a soldier on his hands. Unlikely, given Kermakkian views about wolves (they hate them), the pup is taken along – or killed anyway.
3. Jaysin kills the crossbowman and the remaining six soldiers, using his arcane skills. He travels on with the pup.
4. Jaysin throws himself over the pup and is struck by the crossbow. Grievously wounded, he is taken prisoner. He doesn’t know what happens to the pup.
5. Jaysin kills one or two soldiers with his spells and the rest escape and run away in fear.
6. Jaysin teleports the pup to safety, but is taken prisoner.

There are many other combinations and possibilities I’ve wrestled with. I have chosen an outcome – I wrote it yesterday - but of course I’m not adding a spoiler here by telling you what I chose to write.
 
The writing process is a constant interplay of possibilities and myriad outcomes from every moment and action and interaction that is created. I need Jaysin to be ‘true to character’ in the situation above and yet it also presents a moment for character growth – an opportunity for the character self-realisation – and an event where the reader might see something in the character they had not previously been privy to.

There are additional considerations around tone and realities. Killing the pup in this scene, for example, might be seriously detrimental to reader enjoyment. It might, however, cement reader sentiment for Jaysin and dislike of the Kermakkian cruelty. The wolf pup, while demonstrating Jaysin’s affinity with wolves and his softer nature, creates a challenging prop, especially as Jaysin will have to hide it everywhere he intends to travel – and then there’s caring for it and building a relationship with it. The pup, cute as a trope, could also be a liability for the story. Just as the incident challenges me, as the writer, to decide Jaysin’s fate, it also challenges me to determine the pup’s fate in the ongoing story.

This week was a slow writing week, the draft only gaining an additional 3,000 words as it moved into the eighth chapter. As always, finding time to write was a challenge, but the bigger challenge this week was deciding character fate. So many possibilities – so many outcomes…