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How do I introduce this character?



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Thu Aug 28, 2014 4:29 pm
MarbleToast says...



Right then...

My main protaganist needs a good introduction. It's the first chapter, and it's a fantasy. Taverns- nope. I've tried that twice, and both times it felt off.

Any ideas?

Cheers.
Didn't I say no taverns?
Dreams sprout tall so beautiful
to wither and fall off
Old and dusty, creaky and rough
This clockwork will not rest
  





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Thu Aug 28, 2014 4:57 pm
Lefty says...



Hey, there!

What is the character like? Who is the protagonist? What is a little bit of the plot or the feel/theme? Some more info might be helpful. Thanks!
Hear me out, there's so much more to life than what you're feeling now. Someday you'll look back on all these days, and all this pain is gonna be invisible. - Hunter Hayes
  





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Thu Aug 28, 2014 8:56 pm
Rosendorn says...



More questions!

What genre is it? What sort of feel do you want for the opening? What other information beside the protagonist do you want to deliver? Where is the protagonist? What's the general idea for the beginning?

Protagonists can be introduced literally thousands of ways. You need to give us some more information to go off of so we can help.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:00 am
Shiverfeather says...



probably introduce them with some infomation of how they fit into their world, though its hard to give you info when we dont know about them. Maybe doing their job or with friends or family...
  





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Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:25 am
MarbleToast says...



What genre is it?

The genre is fantasy- think almost Elder Scrolls kind of fantasy, and you're pretty much there.

What is the character like? Who is the protagonist? What is a little bit of the plot or the feel/theme?


Luthus Wrey is a thirty-year-old blacksmith who was forcibly retired from being an assassin. He's pretty sullen and brash- someone who if you played chess with, you'd easily outsmart; he acts without thinking. If he was in a hostile situation, he'd use stealth, then he'd fight. He would never try talk his way out of a fight.

A vague overview of the plot is that a respected protector of the realm kills the king, and so a group of warriors answer the call to join the Steelwardens, a band of mercenaries created to hunt down the murderer. The book isn't excessively dark, just realistic, like A Song of Ice and Fire.

What sort of feel do you want for the opening? What other information beside the protagonist do you want to deliver? Where is the protagonist? What's the general idea for the beginning?


The opening should be light, but Wrey's the exact opposite of it, like he's the negativity. I would also like to introduce the fact that he is good with weapons, and possibly make it easy to see he is experienced making them.

The protagonist is... somewhere. I know the vague location- Asburn, the capital of Rethiir- but this is the main problem. The exact location is something I can't nail down.

The original idea was Wrey in a tavern which was all stereotypically raucous, with him at the back, alone, with things going out from there, but it always felt wrong, and I wrote it thrice. Now, though... to get a general idea of how to introduce him was the reason for posting this.
Dreams sprout tall so beautiful
to wither and fall off
Old and dusty, creaky and rough
This clockwork will not rest
  





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Fri Aug 29, 2014 4:23 pm
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Vervain says...



Now that we have this information - what's the setting like? Are there any community gardens, any bars that double as family restaurants? (And before you say "no, it's medieval-style fantasy", restaurants have been around since at least Ancient Greece. They were considerably fewer in medieval Europe - locals rarely drank at bars aimed at travelers - but there still would have been a few.) Are there any big, light, airy areas you could introduce him in, since you want him to be the opposite of the place? Meeting squares? Is there a river in or by Asburn?

Those are just a few thoughts - I've never actually done a tavern opening myself, but I would not be able to tell you how many I've read. (Why are taverns always somehow integral to a plot? "Hey, guys, we need a meeting place for our supah-sekrit society" "Why not a rowdy tavern? They certainly won't notice like fifty people all sitting together talking about one thing in suspicious low voices.") I'd say scrap the very idea of a tavern opening (I'm imagining an acquisitions editor or their intern sitting at the slush pile saying "tavern opening, nope" "other tavern opening, nope" "this is the tavern opening we want!") and go with something that shows more of the culture and society of Asburn - find something they have that's community-oriented or open-air, and see if you can work an introduction to him there.
stay off the faerie paths
  





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Sat Aug 30, 2014 5:04 pm
MarbleToast says...



Funny you should mention a river- the city is based on a river, after which the city is named.

All your points from all of you have given me a good idea- cheers everyone.
Dreams sprout tall so beautiful
to wither and fall off
Old and dusty, creaky and rough
This clockwork will not rest
  





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Sat Aug 30, 2014 5:13 pm
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methrirr123 says...



Sometimes it's easier to open with many characters. When you have a main protagonist that you want to introduce, maybe have him introduced by or with another protagonist. Maybe they're talking or arguing pettily. He's a blacksmith, so maybe he's trying to teach an incompetent apprentice who knows nothing about his history.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
  





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Sat Aug 30, 2014 5:16 pm
MarbleToast says...



methrirr123 wrote:Sometimes it's easier to open with many characters. When you have a main protagonist that you want to introduce, maybe have him introduced by or with another protagonist. Maybe they're talking or arguing pettily. He's a blacksmith, so maybe he's trying to teach an incompetent apprentice who knows nothing about his history.


I scrap what I was going to do. This is a brilliant idea!

:D

Cheers.
Dreams sprout tall so beautiful
to wither and fall off
Old and dusty, creaky and rough
This clockwork will not rest
  








By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.
— Genesis 3:19