According to my magically possessed, super duper spectacular outline, I should be on chapter six and the three scenes therein. Problem is, chapter five spread its tentacles and refused to go down without a fight. A scene that is a paragraph in the outline mutated into pages and pages in the actual writing. Most of the writing was to jell the idea in my mind of the god's past, how he came to be a god, the events leading up to it, and why those events might cause complications for his daughter.Instead of coming right out and saying things, the character told a long story, beat around the bush, and generally tried his best to avoid saying much of anything important. Under the judicious questioning of the female protagonist, he slipped up and let spill a few things he should have kept to himself. He is so worried about what might happen, that he can't be happy in the here and now. The female protag rightly gets to the heart of the matter. The god can't ask for help. Or directions. *g* He wants to solve his problems all by himself, because he is so wrapped up in them he can't see beyond himself. The god cannot trust.
Much as people grow and change in their lifetime, the gods of my novels must pass through stages before they can journey onward. They must slowly disengage from the mortal realm while interacting with mortals. Some have a tough time letting go. Others choose not to, likening the power too much to change their status.
That was my favorite part of Greek mythology, how the gods mirrored the mortals with all their petty squabbles and backstabbing. Even Zeus was not a paragon of success as a god. Is it a depressing thought, that even those who achieve god-like status still have to struggle to overcome their baser ambitions? Maybe instead it's the thought that these gods are not to different from us, and therefore accessible that intrigues me. I'm edging my way towards another story, but it hasn't finished percolating yet. NaNo has been good for the experience of non self-censoring, and just writing. Hopefully the lesson will carry over into new material, and the other book that is probably stuck... but I won't admit it.
3 comments:
That's one of the things that I found fascinating about Greek mythology, too. The gods were people, writ large.
(Pratchett spoofs this a bit further - his Discworld gods live in a palace called Dunmanifestin and engage in endless petty squabbles with their neighbours the Ice Giants over borrowing the lawnmower and turning the radio down.)
Carla, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were a Terry Pratchett fan. *g*
Have I made a secret of it? I love his facility with language, and his books make me laugh, which is something I value highly in a novel.
I promise I don't have an entirely one-track mind - I do read other stuff as well (!) - it's just that your god character has caught my imagination and reminded me of Pratchett's gods. So now I have a head full of them :-)
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