Sajani Tails

Building your story.

      I’ve mentioned a few times that these journals are very stream of consciousness for me. Last post is a good example of that. I merged something without thinking, but it’s easy enough to fix.

      The next archetype from the monomyth I’m going to talk about is the herald. This is the person, place, thing or event (can I call it a noun?) that starts the hero on her journey. It’s very rare this role Is played by a single instance. More often, there are several things that come together. Taking a well-known example from the Lord of Rings, Gandalf is a pretty obvious herald. He recognizes the danger and sets Frodo and eventually the fellowship on the path of their adventure. But there are a lot of other heralds happening in the background. Boromir’s dream for instance. Bilbo’s discovery of the ring also qualifies. The council of Elrond, both the chapter and the participants act in a way to set the hero on his journey.

      A lot of emphasis gets placed on the herald being a character, but more often, it’s a series of events. In The Difference Engine, the role is played by a stack of computer punch cards in an ornate box. (William Gibson does some really weird things with the monomyth).

      In my series, Benayle plays the role of herald, sort of. He’s there when Sajani starts her journey, but it’s the invasion of the elves into Zenache that’s the true herald. Faux Scent has a strange herald as well, since it doesn’t appear until about halfway through the book. Rana escaping from jail is the strongest herald of events in the story, although there are some minor hints along the way.

      So, let’s take a look at what happens if you have no herald—nothing. Nothing happens because you have no purpose for telling your story. Remember what I said last time about a lot of these elements being present, not because of some mystical or scientific reason, but because without them you don’t have a story? Well, herald is one like that. You probably include one without prompting but having a term for it gives you a way to compartmentalize the concept and flesh it out a little more.

      When filled by a character, herald and mentor often go together. I kind of merged them in my last post without thinking. When that happens you often see the character traveling with the hero and giving advice. This can lead to a potential weakness in your story. Realize that if you rely on your mentor/herald too much, it weakens the success of the hero. This might be intentional, but many times when I see it, I’m pretty sure that was unintentional. It’s impossible for me to make my point by referencing something without it being a huge spoiler, so I’ll tell you what to look for and you can find it easily on your own.

      Did your favorite character die? Well, there’s usually only two reason for it and the biggest reason is that the hero’s success will seem so much greater if it’s done without aid. Take a look at Lord of the Rings. At the big scene at the climax, Frodo ends up figuratively alone. There are two other characters in the scene, but when the final decision is being made, Frodo makes it entirely on his own. It’s a fairly common pattern and one to consider in your writing. You don’t have to isolate like that, but you should at least realize that anyone else involved shares that victory, spreading it out. Sajani’s victories are always shared; her losses are always individual and deeply personal. It was a conscious decision early on.

      The next archetype will show off my love for what I like to think of as the old Disney. While the archetype is still used in almost all movies since the early seventies, the role has degenerated and gone kind of shallow. I’m talking about what the monomyth refers to as the trickster and is often viewed as the comic relief. The trickster is the one that acts as a bit of a literary foil and often inhibits the hero in ways that are unintentional and often amusing. Jacques and Gus in Cinderella are good examples. The allow Cinderella to show off her compassion and empathy, but also land themselves into trouble that distracts her from her ultimate goal. The comic relief part is obvious. “Gus Gus.” As is often the case with the trickster, in the end they help her succeed.

      Another great example is Thumper in Bambi. The rabbit causes his own brand of trouble and we get a few laughs along the way. You’ll find that type of character in almost all animated Disney movies. Early on they tended to be fully fleshed characters, but slowly they became more and more shallow and degenerated into more comic than actual relief. The role is played all over the place in my books, with no character having a corner on it, but mostly you find it being played out by Fenther, Simon, and Tess. The tricksters that tend to stand out are like that: they’re characters in their own right and have some important role in the story. You can use the shallow method and, like so many other things I talk about, it’s not wrong to do that and there are times when you’ll want a shallow trickster, so as to not outshine your hero.

      That’s about all for this week. I’ll cover the shapeshifter and the shadow next time. It’s a little weird switching from the furry sites to my own site and losing the following I worked so hard for, but this is a lot easier and helps me feel a bit more established.

      Thank you to anyone that’s followed me here. I’ll miss comments, since I doubt many will bother registering to make them, but you can always email me: chaaya dot chandra at outlook dot com. There’s also an interview of me on http://willbly.com Feel free to support that site.

      May you keep running forward and never look back.