Omnixius
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Wondering if I should?
🕑 Added 2020-08-23 23:31:32 +0000 UTC
So, I am working on a Heather chapter and I see an open door for Quinny and Frank to have a discussion about relationships. I wrote a sample page where he asks her why she compared them to a harem anime. Quinny then begins to impress on him that he has three women around him all the time, and is oblivious to it.
This evolved into Frank admitting he has never had a girlfriend, or any girls as friends, and that he came into the world to more or less escape that pressure. Quinny then suggests he could have one here and admits that she thinks he is a good guy. They talk about how ugly he is but she says that they are getting used to it, and more and more are starting to see the real him underneath.
She then draws attention to how Heather snuggled up to him on the palanquin to share her panel and he tries to claim that was nothing. (Hmm, was it? I am not even sure what that scene was for, I just felt it needed to be there.)
The problem is, why have this conversation? I wasn’t planning on building a relationship between Frank and any of them, especially Heather, so this conversation is pointless, unless I change my mind. As it stands the harem comment was a good way for Quinny to claim she was a princess thus completing the joke, but it does leave the door open for a Frank to wonder why she said it at all.
Do I consider Frank and Heather forming some kind of stronger bond? Not intimacy but, sort of an understanding that they are a couple? Or maybe this evolves into a Frank line where he starts to second guess what he wants to be in New Eden and leads to some deep exploratory chapters about who Frank really is? Do I even need that in the story?
I feel like there is something important here, but since I never planned for this at all, I have no grasp of it. I am going to rewrite the chapter to either tone down the conversation or remove it until I have a better idea of what I or my readers want. I just reached a point where Frank and Quinny were alone together and tried to think of something for them to talk about, and drew on my awkward experience of my teenage years.
Anyway, let me know what you think.
Comments
see, I am glad you said that about them not being human. I feel that way too, they are still human and as such should have human emotions despite how different the world is. If I keep avoiding that I am worried they will become shallow characters at the least, and emotionless robots at the worst.
" I wasn’t planning on building a relationship between Frank and any of them" It doesnt have to be between them, just bringing out Franks inner man to realize hey, I can still be with someone here IF I want to. Right now he does play that faithful friend role, but who knows Breanne or Quinny or any of the other females might want to start something down the line. The idea that because they are these creatures or are not human would prevent romance doesnt sit well with me. They do need something to talk about since you have them alone at the moment. Maybe Breanne walks in on them and adds her wisdom, after all she has been in the world longer, in both worlds.
That probably has a lo do with it. The more I write about them the more personal they become and I start to see connections that I couldn't have seen months ago. Thus I want to explore these things which I feel make them more real, but I have a story to tell that hadn't planned on that. Hmm, I suppose I am in no rush to get to the end, and I can afford an exploratory chapter or two. Maybe I will post what I have here and see what the patreons think before I release it to the wild on Royalroad.
Xultanis
Honestly, this is a question I've seen a lot of authors struggle with as their stories, and the characters therein, grow and develop and change. You start to see them in more complex ways than just a fictional bit of wording on paper (or pixels). Honestly, there is no right answer. Keep to your original plan, or explore what you see as an opportunity for some unexpected character development. If you really cant decide, leave it as a side story or side chapter you can release and expound upon once you've made up your mind. I've read many good books by writers who have stated that a lot of the story was not what they had planned, but felt as if they were moved from creator to narrator, just sharing the story that already exists instead of penning something new. It's not a bad thing! Being able to see those interpersonal connection, those seemingly irrelevant conversations, breathes life into the world you are sharing with us and enriches the tale. Whichever choice you make, I'll still be here reading.
