McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
What do you wish would be done MORE in urban fantasy?
The Corvidian:
--- Quote from: JamiSings on December 17, 2007, 01:16:05 AM ---No, but I've seen people checking out his books. I don't have time to read everything.
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Well, if you get a chance, and a bit of time, check out some of his Newford novels. Most of his characters are not "Beautiful People". They are outsiders, and eccentrics.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: JamiSings on December 16, 2007, 06:56:45 PM ---I've noticed though that they're often the oddballs because it turns out they're part-something or other. Rarely does it seem that the teen is a normal pure bred human being. Which is what I'd like to see. A normal human, who doesn't fit in too well because they don't fit society's standards of behavior or beauty or what have you. Who turns around and saves people without any special powers, special charms, etc. Just whatever normal talents they happen to have and a bit of brain power.
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Fair enough, but there has to be some reason why the story is happening to this protagonist in particular rather than some other random person; they have to be "special" at least at that level, and if you rule out oddities of origin or special powers in order to make them more normal, what then would work for you to make them stand out to the extent of attracting an actual Story rather than just having a life ?
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: The Corvidian on December 17, 2007, 05:32:52 AM ---Well, if you get a chance, and a bit of time, check out some of his Newford novels. Most of his characters are not "Beautiful People". They are outsiders, and eccentrics.
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For values of "outsiders and eccentrics" that translates as "we are Special Significant People because we Make Art" a bit more often than I am entirely comfortable with, fwiw.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: JamiSings on December 16, 2007, 08:44:06 PM ---Yeah, I really want some adult stuff. It's not fair we keep getting left out. We can feel like freaks and oddballs too just as much as any angst-riddled teenager. Sometimes more so because teens you expect and accept it. Adults we hear "Oh get over it."
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I don't know, I think part of being adult is to accept that everybody feels like an oddball or an imposter at some point and that this is a universal part of the human condition, there's no magic key to make it go away,and to do what we can to be kind to people having moments of insecurity.
On something closer to topic, have you read The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick ? It's a very weird fantasy about an orphan girl working in a Dickensian-type factory that builds mechanical dragons; not a nice book, but a remarkably good one which I would be interested to see your take on.
JamiSings:
--- Quote from: neurovore on December 17, 2007, 03:22:29 PM ---Fair enough, but there has to be some reason why the story is happening to this protagonist in particular rather than some other random person; they have to be "special" at least at that level, and if you rule out oddities of origin or special powers in order to make them more normal, what then would work for you to make them stand out to the extent of attracting an actual Story rather than just having a life ?
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Well, the Die Hard movies proved you can just have the "wrong place, right time" senerio work.
A person doesn't need to have special powers to just walk into the wrong alley and get the wrong kind of attention. People in the real world all the time suddenly find themselves witnessing murders, saving people from murderers/thieves/rapists, jumping on top of people who are having seizures and have fallen on subway tracks, etc. Why can't an ordinary person walk in on a vampire or werewolf attack and actually manage to save the victim? Therefore attracting unwanted supernatural attention the same way someone who's witnessed a mafia crime attracts their unwanted attention.
Could you imagine what a supernatural witness protection would be like?
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