{"id":1708,"date":"2022-07-13T07:54:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T11:54:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1708"},"modified":"2022-07-13T07:54:34","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T11:54:34","slug":"crossroads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2022\/07\/13\/crossroads\/","title":{"rendered":"Crossroads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On August 14, 2021, Christie V Powell wrote, How do you decide when you\u2019ve got two different routes that your story can take? Maybe you\u2019ve written your list and you\u2019ve got a couple of brilliant ideas, but they don\u2019t work well together. Or maybe it\u2019s an either-or question: should I kill this character or not? Should I combine these characters or not? Like, both options are valid and would make a decent story.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it makes a difference, right now I\u2019m trying to decide whether to add (gender swapped) Beauty\u2019s father into the plot in the beginning or combine him with \u201cBeauty\u201d\u2018s army commander. The Beast part is pretty clear in my rough draft, but the father part needs work.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A back-and-forth ensued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Mead: What would the father contribute to the story that no one else can?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christie V Powell: Mainly it\u2019s the connection to the fairy tale. Right now, I\u2019m trying out combining him with the commander, who has a more important role. It changes \u201cBeauty\u201ds motivation a bit, but it also raises the stakes, so I\u2019m hoping it will work.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa Mead: Well, if the Disney version could leave out Belle\u2019s sisters, I\u2019d say you can be flexible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I chimed in.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Carson Levine: Do you know the ending? Are you in the outlining stage?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christie V Powell: I have a loose outline and a really messy rough draft, and now I\u2019m trying to make it more presentable. So I know the basic building blocks, including the ending, but there are still details I haven\u2019t figured out yet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Carson Levine: I\u2019ve added your question to my list. Your approach is so much more logical than mine, I don\u2019t know how much help I\u2019ll be, but I\u2019ll take a stab. By the time the question comes up, you can tell us what you wound up doing and how you approached it!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Christie V Powell asked the question eleven months ago, I looked on her Amazon page to see if I could see if a \u201cBeauty and the Beast\u201d retelling was there, but I couldn\u2019t find it. What I did find, among many titles, was The Great Pasta Rhyme-Off<\/em> by James G. Powell written either by her son or a very accomplished professor of limerickology, judging by the sample Amazon provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seriously, Christie V Powell, I was charmed\u2014and mighty pleased to see a photo of you doling out said pasta!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, please let us know if you finished the book and what you wound up doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the question is simply whether to have two characters or one\u2014a father and a commander, or the father is also the commander\u2014I would go with option two.  Generally, I believe in character consolidation; one character is better than two. The reader doesn\u2019t have to take another one on board when there may already be many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are exceptions, like if the single character has to be in two places at once. Or we may want two to bring out different aspects of character. I\u2019m not a fan of the father in the original fairy tale because he dumps the choice of which of them\u2014he or Beauty\u2014should be sacrificed to the Beast. The Beast hasn\u2019t said he\u2019d eat her, but her longevity doesn\u2019t look good if she\u2019s his captive. I don\u2019t know what Christie V Powell has in mind, but indecisiveness doesn\u2019t seem a likely personality trait for a commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When my story reaches a crossroad\u2014or whenever I have to make almost any story decision\u2014I write notes, which is one reason I\u2019m such a slow writer. I ask, What if it goes this way? I write possibilities, lots of them if the idea is promising. That way? Different possibilities. Sometimes I reach a dead end quickly, which tells me to go another way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I\u2019m looking for are surprises and enthusiasm (my own). It\u2019s a good sign if a follow-on idea is unexpected. I\u2019m convinced, and I set off\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which doesn\u2019t mean I won\u2019t run into trouble later on. Since I\u2019m mostly a pantser, I don\u2019t anticipate trouble very well. Trouble occasions more notes, but I rarely reverse my earlier choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a stab at our own gender-reversed B&B, in which we\u2019ll give our MC the boy\u2019s name Beau. He\u2019s bookish and loves novels of manners and poets who write in rhymed couplets. If one of his books weighs more than five pounds, he staggers carrying it to his favorite chair by the fireplace. When his father comes home with his terrible news, Beau rises to the occasion, though he almost drops his mug of hot chocolate in the effort of standing up. Huzzah! Maybe an adventure will lead him to a new interest in swashbuckling stories! \u201cI\u2019ll go, Father.\u201d He smiles bravely and gulps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say we go with one character for Beau\u2019s father and the commander, who is in charge of the defense of the kingdom\u2019s capital. When the Beast, an enormous lioness, offers him the choice of his own death or sacrificing his son, he thinks he could bump off the creature himself just by pulling the chandelier down on her, but he wants Beau to toughen up, and here\u2019s the chance he\u2019s been waiting for. This father isn\u2019t indecisive at all! \u201cTake my son,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ll love him.\u201d Heh heh heh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, say the father is just the father. By trade, he\u2019s a merchant. The cargo he traded in before he became impoverished was rare books about botany. He and Beau are twigs on the same delicate tree. When the Beast offers him a chance to live, he grabs it instantly, in a grip that\u2019s barely strong enough to squeeze a kitchen sponge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he loves his son. When a month passes and Beau doesn\u2019t return or send word, he visits the commander, who is happy to take on the rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point in my thinking, the father seems like dead (but light) weight. If the commander takes over we don\u2019t need the father in the first place unless he has something to do later in our plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point I\u2019d wonder what that might be. I\u2019d think about how my story is going so far. What\u2019s happening with Beau and the Beast? Is Beau accruing any swashbuckling skills? Probably not. Is he finding ways to sabotage the Beast or to make his captivity bearable? Is the Beast in love with him? Or is she disappointed and getting hungry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can the father worsen Beau\u2019s situation or improve it? As usual, I\u2019d make a list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know how it would come out, but that would be my approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three prompts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n