Progress on Book Two
Good news this week: progress was made on book two. Not much, but progress is progress. As mentioned in last week’s blog, it was something I wanted to get back rolling, and we have. So that’s a win.
It was an interesting chapter, one that didn’t explicitly tackle the character trauma that figures such as Flint and Clio may have accumulated, but it did at least touch on it.
Exploring Character Trauma in Fantasy and Sci-Fi
I find the idea of trauma, particularly psychological character trauma, an interesting one within the world of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. Not that it is never tackled; I think Sanderson did a good job with this in the Stormlight Series with Kaladin. Also, Joe Abercrombie and his dark, brutally realistic worlds capture elements of it.
But for a lot of stories, it is brushed over. Our heroes are the tough, aspirational rocks we want to be. Having them struggling with the impact of their actions, having burnout, or breaking down can be deeply powerful but also narratively challenging.
To find a balance between the character managing their character trauma in a way that does it justice but also allows them to progress the story can be tricky. If you are in the middle of your series and your protagonist needs to take twelve months off for rest and recuperation, that is always a viable option. It would be quite nice to build that into an outline: having them finish one epic moment in their life only to be dragged back into something many years later once they are in a better place.
The Reality of Burnout and Negative Coping
However, I often think character trauma is massively overlooked. I look at my own work, and at friends and colleagues who face burnout. This is just “normal” life, not chasing monsters down or fighting off alien super-intelligences as friends are shot or mutilated around you. I know if I was in anything close to the stories I write, I would be a mess by the end of Act Two. I definitely wouldn’t be ready for Act Three, let alone book two.
Building on this, the negative coping strategies people adopt under such pressure are also something I feel is often lacking. Yes, we might write that they get angry or snippy, but it is more than that. The obvious things being drinking, smoking, seeking intimacy, or just the simple distraction of sex. There are so many negative coping strategies that can make for interesting character divergences under the stresses we put them through.
Refining Character Trauma in My Writing
As I write this, I feel I haven’t done this justice in what I have written in book two so far. I have tried to show the impact of loss on Clio and Flint, and how that loss, despite being different, manifests from a shared event. Mostly, it has manifested in withdrawal from the world. I think there is more that can be done, but it would take a rewrite of Clio’s and Flint’s scenes to make their character trauma from book one have a more direct impact on them as individuals.
I also worry I lack the expertise to do this well and respectfully. As I said, I’ve seen burnout and experienced it, so I can draw from that. Even, to some extent, negative coping strategies, but not anywhere close to what those in the book would have faced. To dive deeper into character trauma in a way that is empowering and engaging, without being dismissive or cliché, will be tricky.
I will explore this and try my best to capture it at a level I feel I have the skill to achieve. Maybe this is why it is often skimmed over. It’s difficult to do well, and worse if done badly than not doing it at all.
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