Sunday, March 6, 2011

Reflections On The Semi-Gods

Thinking about the story I wrote yesterday, there is a lot to consider.  To me, it was not so much a story as it was a writing exercise.  I needed to figure out who these characters are, what they want, and how they feel about each other.

I discovered that BenPo had the hustle, which made the character feel like the protagonist.  We saw the most dialogue and the most passion.  Apparently omniscience really does make people bored.  I discovered that the person without omnibenevolence was not evil by any means, but more of a jokester, doing things out of boredom for no reason but to do them and to have nothing better to do.

One of the questions I had earlier in this series was how to make these characters interesting.  They seem relatively shallow and only having two ways to play them off (to type or against type).  If these characters were left alone and surrounded by mortals, that would probably happen.  But by putting all three of them together, none of them are seen as gods.  They are all equals.  Similar, but different, each with advantages and disadvantages.

I also stumbled upon a realization in the last sentences of that story.  They are asking the same questions that we ask.  Suddenly, they have gone from being gods to being human, and now are much more approachable and deep.

Although I don't plan to keep that scene, I have benefited from writing it.  I know my characters more.  I know my story more.  I am far closer to making a final product than I would have been if I spent that time thinking about the characters and not writing down my thoughts the way I did.

This is the end of the series on the three semi-gods.  I will no doubt return to them at some point.  They are a good concept and are only a hyperlink away.  But in the mean time, every post I wrote gave me two more ideas to work on, so I am ready to go through a burgeoning list of posts to make.

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