Start simple, then. Who is your antag? Who is your protag? Perhaps it's having all those options that's bogging you down, and once you make the decision you can move forward.
In many ways this is true. I know my protag's emotional interior, but have not quite settled on all the little details that will make her most real. I've even struggled with her name. She was Karen in one draft, Lydia in another. And names are very important to me; when I discover her true name, it will mean I know who she is, and I suspect that the reverse is true, as well. So, I need to know too, who stole the child.
This is all very interesting. I've written several chapters of this story and agonized over it off and on for years. It's been workshopped and reviewed by professional authors and I've never answered these questions. Which doesn't mean no one ever asked them, just that I managed to avoid them, one way or another. Maybe the story is only just beginning to ripen, or maybe you just ask good questions. :)
Thanks!
There are two antagonists, one in the "real" world, and one in Faerie: her husband, and the king of the fay. The king may not be the one who did the deed, or ordered it done, but it is he who will arbitrate the fate of the protag and her children.
As far as why a child might be taken to make a good servant...you start training obedient dogs when they're puppies.
You know, you're right. And, while I kept thinking that raising an infant is a lot of work, this is the sort of thing that would be handed off to another servant. So, yes, I can see why infants might be stolen to become servants. After all, if you have an extended lifetime, those few years will seem a short wait.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-29 12:14 am (UTC)In many ways this is true. I know my protag's emotional interior, but have not quite settled on all the little details that will make her most real. I've even struggled with her name. She was Karen in one draft, Lydia in another. And names are very important to me; when I discover her true name, it will mean I know who she is, and I suspect that the reverse is true, as well. So, I need to know too, who stole the child.
This is all very interesting. I've written several chapters of this story and agonized over it off and on for years. It's been workshopped and reviewed by professional authors and I've never answered these questions. Which doesn't mean no one ever asked them, just that I managed to avoid them, one way or another. Maybe the story is only just beginning to ripen, or maybe you just ask good questions. :)
Thanks!
There are two antagonists, one in the "real" world, and one in Faerie: her husband, and the king of the fay. The king may not be the one who did the deed, or ordered it done, but it is he who will arbitrate the fate of the protag and her children.
As far as why a child might be taken to make a good servant...you start training obedient dogs when they're puppies.
You know, you're right. And, while I kept thinking that raising an infant is a lot of work, this is the sort of thing that would be handed off to another servant. So, yes, I can see why infants might be stolen to become servants. After all, if you have an extended lifetime, those few years will seem a short wait.