McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Teen witch character help
Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon):
I'm working on another urban fantasy story, and I'm creating a mildly magically gifted teen witch character who's of the "fluffy-bunny" Wiccan variety, ie. the sort who's read Silver Ravenwolf a few times too many, and now thinks they're the Goddess's gift of sweetness and light to the universe. The plot requires her to have a kind of evaluation by a veteran magical practitioner who's a bit of a polite religious skeptic. I'm trying to figure out a way for the polite skeptic to bring our girl back down to earth, in such a way that it doesn't look like I'm bashing Wicca, or that the skeptic isn't a mean guy, he's just trying to give her a more realistic view of magic (ie. that it can't fix everything, and it shouldn't be used when practical common garden things can be used with greater and more lasting effect), and that our girl really is a good kid who means well, but who still has a *lot* to learn. Any and all suggestions will be greatly and gratefully appreciated!
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Morraeon on January 07, 2009, 09:35:51 PM ---I'm working on another urban fantasy story, and I'm creating a mildly magically gifted teen witch character who's of the "fluffy-bunny" Wiccan variety, ie. the sort who's read Silver Ravenwolf a few times too many, and now thinks they're the Goddess's gift of sweetness and light to the universe. The plot requires her to have a kind of evaluation by a veteran magical practitioner who's a bit of a polite religious skeptic. I'm trying to figure out a way for the polite skeptic to bring our girl back down to earth, in such a way that it doesn't look like I'm bashing Wicca, or that the skeptic isn't a mean guy, he's just trying to give her a more realistic view of magic (ie. that it can't fix everything, and it shouldn't be used when practical common garden things can be used with greater and more lasting effect), and that our girl really is a good kid who means well, but who still has a *lot* to learn. Any and all suggestions will be greatly and gratefully appreciated!
--- End quote ---
Having that sort of conversation seems likely to be a difficult line for the mentor to walk, between not actually getting through her convictions in re how the universe works on one hand, and not being mean or reading to her as mean on the other. Were I that mentor, I would try to arrange relatively small demonstrations of the principle - preferably in ways that don't cost anyone too much - and wait for the student to start querying them herself before starting the conversation; though I can see Plot Happening in such a way as to force that before they were ready, and a demonstration on that scale going wrong because she tries to intervene, from the wrong direction, and makes it much worse, is what my hindbrain then immediately thinks.
What POV are you writing this from ? I can see it being immense fun to do first-person girl, because of the challenge of getting the sceptic's views and reactions clearly across to the reader without the girl actually reading them correctly, but that may also just be me.
Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon):
--- Quote from: neurovore on January 07, 2009, 09:50:50 PM ---What POV are you writing this from ? I can see it being immense fun to do first-person girl, because of the challenge of getting the sceptic's views and reactions clearly across to the reader without the girl actually reading them correctly, but that may also just be me.
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I'm thinking of running it from the skeptic's viewpoint, mostly because it's easier to write, since, while I the writer deeply respect Wicca and what it means, I tend to be a bit guarded around the "fluffy-bunny" types. But it might be more fun to write it from the girl's POV, since it would be fun to have her go through the usual teenaged "U MEENIE! HOW DAR U DIZAGRE WIT MEEEeeee!!!!!!!1111" kind of thinking, and then have her thinking mature a little by the end of the story.
DragonFire:
--- Quote from: Morraeon on January 07, 2009, 10:08:31 PM ---I'm thinking of running it from the skeptic's viewpoint, mostly because it's easier to write, since, while I the writer deeply respect Wicca and what it means, I tend to be a bit guarded around the "fluffy-bunny" types. But it might be more fun to write it from the girl's POV, since it would be fun to have her go through the usual teenaged "U MEENIE! HOW DAR U DIZAGRE WIT MEEEeeee!!!!!!!1111" kind of thinking, and then have her thinking mature a little by the end of the story.
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Do a Molly.
Have her screw up in such a way that the mentor HAS to bail her out.
Then....have the screw up be because of her worldview, or rather, her inability to process anything OUTSIDE of her worldview.
Then have the mentor tell her some home truths, possibly over a cup of tea....
My suggestion is to avoid having her come out with the mentor's exact opinion though, otherwise it looks like brainwashing.
Matrix Refugee (formerly Morraeon):
--- Quote from: Lightsabre on January 07, 2009, 10:10:50 PM ---Do a Molly.
Have her screw up in such a way that the mentor HAS to bail her out.
Then....have the screw up be because of her worldview, or rather, her inability to process anything OUTSIDE of her worldview.
Then have the mentor tell her some home truths, possibly over a cup of tea....
My suggestion is to avoid having her come out with the mentor's exact opinion though, otherwise it looks like brainwashing.
--- End quote ---
Heh... I'm actually thinking of having a love potion involved somehow. I've flipped through Silver RavenWolf's "Teen Witch" (eurgh... I want that ten minutes of my life back. While she does a good job describing things in terms teens can understand, every level-headed Wiccan friend of mine has called it "how *NOT* to teach Wicca to young people") and while the love spells aren't right on page one, she certainly doesn't keep them on the lowdown, either. I'm seeing the girl -- let's call her Sarah SilverRaven for obvious reasons -- consider the skeptic who confronts her, to be a jerk all along, even at the end when she starts to grasp what he's trying to tell her, but that she finally does start to realize grudgingly that he's got a point.
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