Elanalue Windthorn (Alue). An elf and one of the three protagonists.
I’m about 40 pages from completing my 2nd draft of a new trilogy… Unraveling the Veil. It’s been a bumpier ride than usual, my laptop jouncing on my knees as the story’s wheels plunge into plotholes on the long and winding road to publishing.
A few of them required me to rock the old tale back and forth while gunning the engine. A couple of times, I had to back up and try again, turning in a slightly different direction to get around a sinkhole. I’ve been known to add an extra gallon of coffee to the tank in order to jack up the imagination and fill in a whopping crater.
Magic is a big part of the problem.
Fantasy authors can easily find themselves mired by their magic. To be honest, I’ve struggled through a lot of “oh, shit” moments where I’ve put a character in a treacherous situation, and then realized (on the second draft) that they can easily escape. Yes, you guessed it, by using the powers I granted them.
A shapeshifter who can turn into a beetle can escape most confined spaces. Uh oh.
A shapeshifter who can transform into a bird can just fly away from a dangerous situation. Darn!
A pyrokinetic elf doesn’t have to worry much about being stuck in an ice storm. Duh.
A goblin who can rearrange earthen matter should be impossible to keep locked up in a stone cell. Gah! Rats!
The list goes on and on.
My characters aren’t all-powerful, but they have talents. And their abilities change over time, so I have to keep track of where they are in their magical evolutions.
The point is, writing, rewriting, and editing fantasy requires a unique analysis of every action scene. We, the creators and purveyors of magic, have to question our logic in order to keep the story plausible. Can my characters use their magical abilities to get out of this terrible situation?
If the answer is “yes,” it’s time to put on the brakes and check the old map. Then fix the road or plot a detour. The journey must go on.
WIP working cover
Myths of the Mirror 