Meet the gatekeeper on a mission from Hel.
Book 1 of the Immortal Spy Urban Fantasy Series
(I'm clearly lacking the artistic eye necessary for good #bookstagram pics.)
Meet the gatekeeper on a mission from Hel.
Book 1 of the Immortal Spy Urban Fantasy Series
(I'm clearly lacking the artistic eye necessary for good #bookstagram pics.)
For my book it's imperative the protagonist, at a bare minimum, grows emotionally. They can grow, break, and rebuild over the course of the series. The "break and rebuild" is useful if a series that was intended to be seven books suddenly becomes wildly popular with enough demand to justify continuing the series (hey, I'm allowed to dream, right?). However, if there's no character development internally and/or externally, then the series is Same Shit, Different Monster. That's no fun for me to write. If it's no fun for me to write, then it's no fun for anyone to read.
Regular visitors to this blog know I'm a planner. I plan the series arc and how many books will be in the series before I begin Book One. By having a predetermined end of the series, I avoid giving my protagonist too much power too quickly, thus robbing her of risks and challenges, which deny her character growth and make the story dull.
It is absolutely possible to over-develop a protagonist and have them grow too much too fast. Average Joan leveling up to an omnipotent undefeatable world-creator overnight is a trap that happens often in series that aren't pre-planned. The character has no space to grow. They have no believable opposition. They have all the gizmos, all the magics, all the knowledge...and the character fizzles. They're no longer compelling. Readers become bored and abandon the series.
Yes, there are series with 25+ books holding firmly in the Best Seller lists that have zero character growth. The books are as formulaic as the characters. Obviously, those stories aren't character-driven. Obviously, the audience for those books enjoys the comfort of predictability. Obviously, I'm not dunking on a dedicated fanbase for liking a style that's not mine. It's one of many reasons why there are few hard and fast rules in writing. Most everything is recommendations based on "what works for me. YMMV."
For me, my protags have to evolve over the course of a book and a series. Otherwise, what's the point of the story?
Like everyone else this week, the MICE tool is new to me. The concepts aren't, but I had never heard of them brought together this way. Still, who doesn't like a good acronym?
I love a good milieu. See photo at left. So. Milieu, Idea/Inquiry, Character, and Event. Those are my options.
Okay. Pre-existing conditions: we know Marcella is a character-driven writer versus being a plot-driven writer. This means that no matter what other MICE element I might use to frame a story, character is always, always a part of the picture in that frame.
My first book opens with Ari being someplace she doesn't to be in a context she doesn't want and an EVENT kicks off her story.For book two, EVENT again. Someone Damen Sindrivik cares about becomes a target. Cue mayhem.
Book three mirrors the first book. Edie is someplace she doesn't much want to be in circumstances she doesn't want. Then someone drops a burning spaceship on her head and things get worse. So again. EVENT.
Book four - - someone help. I seem to be stuck in a rut. The heroine is a prisoner sentenced to die in a war on a miserable planet in the middle of nowhere. And EVENT. Huh.
The Urban Fantasies start with character and a bit of milieu ,but then, that's the genre, isn't it? This makes me wonder if your MICE choices might be partially dictated by genre expectations. Idea/inquiry is going to show up reliably in mystery and thriller. UF really wants to linger in setting. Space opera requires a steep on ramp to an inciting incident - the event. Women's fiction usually lasers in on character. I feel like I rarely see a single element used from the MICE toolkit. It's usually a combination of two. I'm trying to think if I've ever seen a story that used more than that, though. I'm coming up empty. Can you think of someone who's used more than two tools at a time? Bonus points if they do it really well.
This picture of a triangle piece of watermelon is the closest thing I have to fitting this topic...at least it's a triangle? Maybe that's an idication to my contribution to this week which is:
MICE!
Milieu
Idea
Character
Event
Jeffe did her homework and explained the MICE quotient, check it out and her links to The Writing Excuses Podcast!
For me, I don’t consider myself a technical writer and couldn’t have told you the four elements that start a story before Sunday. I just write. I see a story in my head and I put the words down.
And if you’re curious, after reading the four options I can say I start my stories with Event—nested in character. When I write fantasy or science fiction the stories start out with something big that changes the status quo and the endings are a resolution to the new normal.
There really can’t be a return to the old normal. Characters progress and change and when that happens normal is altered.
I wish I had more to offer on the topic, but I'll bow out and leave a giant arrow back to Jeffe and KAK's posts.
What element do you use in your writing?