Hey all,

How would you feel about a character admitting that he reached his breaking point? Would it make you think less of him? Or would it make that character seem more human and thereby more easy to relate to?

Here's the gist of the character's situation, just for context:

So, the story is winding down and almost at the climax. But just before my protagonist gets into a pinch. He's assaulted mentally and spiritually and basically made to suffer incredibly by a host of spirits from his past. (It's been done before, plenty of times but I feel why reinvent the wheel when it rolls just fine?) Anyway...

I made it a point to note that the character suffers so much from this experience that he admits to himself, if given the opportunity, he would quit his quest entirely to make this suffering end. The character is a very tough and brave person, especially considering that he's pretty much a "normal" guy that'll bleed just as easy as you or me. But I felt that reaching a breaking point or experiencing "ego death" as Joseph Campbell might put it, would be a good thing for the story and the character's development.

Or do you think readers would appreciate it more if he remains hellbent for leather and refuses to make this concession? After all even "normal" guys and gals are supposed to be more driven and motivated to solve their problems than the rest of us. That's why we write stories about them in the first place, right? Anyway, just trying to see what ya'll thought. 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Is anybody out there familiar with ER protocol when it comes to a woman going into labor suddenly? Let's say she comes into the emergency room after normal hospital hours, apparently in labor. How urgently does an ER staff typically rate the situation and what sort of measures would they take to ensure a successful delivery? Does her emotional state play a role in how the situation is addressed? For example, if she's outright hysterical are they likely to admit her more quickly? Or will she have to sign the necessary insurance and liability paperwork before they'll even look at her? 

If anybody knows anything about this, or has experience, any advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 

Hi,

Quick question on night vision for military application. I reviewed this post http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,16604.msg763855.html#msg763855 and it's a little similar. I didn't quite find the answer I was looking for, though, after reviewing this question.

Basically I have a group of modern PMC agents/mercenaries/soliders of fortune that are infiltrating a hidden underground fortress/temple. They're specialized in combatting supernatural threats and have been hired by 2 magi to help them recover the Ancient Hidden Secret Thingamajig^TM in said temple.

What kind of nightvision would be most applicable in this scenario? IR? Thermal? If I understand things correctly passive nightvision amplifies ambient light and I think ambient natural light would be negligible.
Specifically, the Magi and mercs crawl through an 18 inch crevice for 300 meters before the tunnel opens into a huge cavern that houses the temple. The magi will see through magical means but the soldiers will have to get by with modern military technology. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

I've heard of some very successful male authors criticized (some admitably) for not writing well from the female POV. I'm a male and I haven't written a lot from a female POV in the past but I've been doing it a lot lately. Just looking for pointers.

I don't know if this is right or wrong but I tend to construct my female characters just like my male characters: generally I start off with another literary/movie character or a person that I know in real life as inspiration. Then I think of a couple defining character traits or quirks and write from there to see what happens.

For example one of my favorite characters I'm writing now, Hailey, was inspired by Drew Barrymore's character from Donnie Darko. Drew's character was a high stern school teacher with a quirky dramatic flair about her. I sort of kept her in mind when writing Hailey, but didn't write ::her:: specifically.

To the guys and gals out there, any ideas/suggestions/things to watch out for?

I've heard a lot of people say that essentially a story should be about the protagonist overcoming a problem. In bare bones form a story should involve a character being presented with a problem, struggling to overcome it then either succeeding or failing after the climax.

I've been struggling with the plot of my novel for some time. I think one of the major reasons I'm having troubles is because I haven't been able to construct a single unified problem to present to my MC. So far it seems more like I've been throwing minor problem after minor problem at him, like the ape in Donkey Kong rolling barrels at Mario. The issue is that he doesn't have a clear set goal.

I'm writing is an origin story. The MC is unestablished and he learns about his world at the same rate as the audience. On top of that he's bumbling, naive, and helpless--not much of a hero. He has a strong spirit and struggles with the fact that he is helpless and powerless a lot of the time. He wants to do more but he's inexperienced and lives in a world that's not cut and dry. This results in actions that end up ineffective or antiheroic at best.

But then a thought occured to me: can the quest to become a hero suffice? How about I establish the fact that from an early age he wants to become a hero. His major struggle will boil down to performing a single heroic deed.

Does this seem viable? Thanks in advance for any thoughts and suggestions!

For my story I'm using a pretty "soft" magic system. Basically I'm taking the old school notion that magic is the manipulation of spiritual entities. I believe Harry Dresden would call it something like, "two-bit sorcery." But, in my world, that is how practically all magic works. (Still toying with the idea of alchemy, but need to look into it more)

So...basically you can't "point and click" to do something magical. For example, let's say you wanted to burn down a warehouse full of your enemies. There is no whispering of an archaic phrase to spew a fireball. What you'd need to do is summon an entity of some sort that's capable of manipulating fire (it could breathe fire, or maybe it's a living construct of flame, the possibilities are limitless) and coerce into starting the conflagration. One can compel a spirit or demon to do something through intimidation, cajoling, flattery, or spinning a deal. (I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine.) It all depends on who's involved and what's at stake.

Spiritual entities run pretty much the whole gamut of the imagination. Some entities are very human, some show intelligence more like insects or animals, and others are more like forces of nature with no real desires or feelings. 

To do magic, you reach between the veil of the real world and the nether world, contact and summon one or more such entities then compel them to follow your orders. How does one accomplish this? Every human being has the basic equipment needed for magic: the soul.

For an analogy, imagine your soul as a blazing firebrand that you can use to lure and hypnotize a beast from the woods. Said beast is drawn towards the fire, but also afraid of it, thus you can keep the creature at bay, command it by prodding it with the fire, and (hopefully) keep it from trying to defy you and destroy you. If properly directed, a human being can use their soul to "burn" a supernatural entity and cause it pain, in the same way they could use a firebrand to burn a flesh and blood wild animal. (Think Belowulf vs Grendel)

In the early days, human beings learned to do magic as part our natural development, just as we learned to use fire or make arrow points. Any archeologist can tell you that most ancient cultures harbored a widespread believe in the spirit world, and many had go-betweens, usually in the form of shamans. They were the first sorcerers. Every culture in the world has their own way of doing magic, with their own trappings, but in the end it comes down to mastering one's mental focus and controlling otherworld beings.

As a side note ::anybody:: can learn magic. Children sometimes do magic without even knowing about it. Horrific visions of the boogey man or child disappearances can sometimes be chalked up to a kid with a vivid imagination and strong will accidentally contacting something from beyond. Of course this "accidental magic" isn't always bad. Roger Woodward was a 7 year old boy who survived after falling over Niagara Falls with nothing to protect him but a life preserver. (Not making this up http://www.infoniagara.com/other/history/roger.html) Maybe there was a little bit of magic involved there…However, as we grow and lose that child-like sense of wonder and fear, the likelihood of accomplishing these magical feats diminishes.

My MC is a 17-year old kid, just learning magic. I'll give 2 quick examples of the magic he weaves to show you the feel I'm going for:

With one spell he summons an invisible demon spirit that makes him invisible as well, to hide from some bullies. The experience is terrifying, and while invisible he's aware of winter-cold claws gripping him, and feels like a dove caught in a predator's jaws. He doesn’t quite know what he's getting into, and once the spell is over, the demon claims its payment for services rendered. It stalks down one of the bullies and attacks him by wracking him with seizures that put him in the hospital for 3 days and leave the young man with a permanent facial twitch. Consequently everybody thinks it was a natural sickness. (Trying to embrace the old school notion that sickness could be brought on by demonic influence.)

For another spell, the MC tries to construct an oracle to keep tabs on some baddies. He sharpens a stick at both ends (ala Lord of the Flies) and mounts a pig head upon it that he bought from the market in the Little Mexico suburb. After many hours of trying to contact the spirit world, it finally comes to life when some entities speak through it. The decapitated head whispers strange things to him then lets out a horrific shriek and bursts into flame.

The MC is terrified and has no idea what this means. He considers the spell a failure until much later when he sees that the oracle was giving him clues, just not the ones he'd been looking for at the time.

Anyway…sorry for the longwinded explanation. I'm trying to present magic as something mysterious and dangerous. I just wanted to see what people had any opinions or suggestions they'd like to share. Thanks in advance!

A lot of stories start off with a protagonist who's relatively well established; of course there's always room for growth but said hero will usually have a fair assortment of knowledge and skills already under his/her belt.

Any pointers on writing a story that includes the character's origin? I'm trying to write a story (1st person perspective) where the young protagonist is just discovering a magical, and sometimes horrific, world that lies just below the surface of our own. I'm having a difficult time managing the flow of the story. He's going to receive a huge influx of information and I find it difficult to keep it streamlined. Any tips on smoothly working a glut of information into the story so it doesn't slow it down too much?

Also, I'm struggling to create a genuine reaction to life-changing knowledge and situations. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your advice.