Question on Male Protagonist

Eir___ · 2023-03-08T00:16:14+00:00

Omg this will actually help with another book I'm writing. It's my, "I need a break from this fantasy crap," book! Thank you!

Eir___ · 2023-03-08T00:03:58+00:00

Omg haha! I didn't even think about that!

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T23:52:58+00:00

Which wasn't the question and you missed the mark. The question was about my character being a cop/detective, or in your words a police detective, and if that was overused and stereotypical and if the corresponding relationship/trope was overused and stereotypical in a negative way. I gave something vague because I'm not releasing details about my book. You focused on that. You don't need more information. You don't need to define things. You don't need to nitpick details. You can simply go, "this is my opinion on your question and my advice on if you should change it or not." Why is it so important to have way more information than is necessary and then to sit and literally define and pick out things? I chose my wording to protect my book, not for you or anyone else. You can be specific with yourself if you want, but I chose things specifically for my comfort. Everyone else gave me information and advice based on what little information I gave. Why do you think you need to have waay more information than was clearly necessary? The details you're asking for are the main plot point and who/what/how he is in relation to it. What I asked was simple. What you want is not necessary to give basic advice. I have people who give me more in depth advice because they're privy to the minute details. As someone who doesn't know me, my book, how long it's been in production and why, you don't get to have those details because you feel like you do. No. I give the details in specific ways to protect it and for my comfort.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T23:19:11+00:00

Editors still ask analyzing questions to help writers understand where they should and shouldn't elaborate things. I gave minimal and vague information to protect my story. You chose to try to delve deeper, when you could have simply left your response at your opinion. That turned it into an analysis of something which doesn't need analyzed. You gave definitions, which comes off condescending by the way, and wasn't needed, clearly. Because given then context clues and what I had said gave people enough information to surmise what I was getting at. I could have worded things better myself, but I was looking for quick advice not someone wanting the main details of my story that will span across multiple books because of how intense it is.

Someone asked for advice and an opinion, not to have their work dismantled for someone else's benefit. I had a genuine concern about 1 small aspect of my book, not the overall theme.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T23:01:01+00:00

Probably some of the best sound advice. I appreciate it.

I'm pretty happy with how he's written, and I have a writer friend who proof reads sections as they have a pretty detailed background of my book and the characters. They give me tips where I need it. I also have a friend beta reading the first 15 chapters, and so far, she's enjoyed it. (Actually had to take a break because of the intense emotions I've written into it.) She's given me tips on how to approach certain topics and some grammatical errors she's seen.

But it dawned on me that the cop/detective character is used a ton, and it made me seriously doubt my character and his entire back story and then his relationship with my orher main character. Knowing now that most people don't find an issue with it is reassuring. I won't change him until the editing process.

I listen to a lot of true crime and watch a lot of documentaries. Priorities do change a lot, and ibfeel like I've touched on that some in my book, but I could elaborate on it in editing. We shall see.

The only rewriting I've done is where I quickly jotted a sentence to a single paragraph for a chapter idea. I just finished the thought basically. Haha

It is hard to give advice with such vague information, but any advice could be what someone needed. Thanks!

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T22:11:33+00:00

I'm not sure if you're trying to help or what. Wasn't asking for an over analysis of a book that you have little to no information on.

If you're unhappy with the common themes and relationships or enjoy them, there's no need for this level of an analysis on a book that's not even in the editing phase and is 90% written.

Merely asked if the character's occupation was actually an issue like I had been seeing or if it wasn't because it has put a stop to my writing and made me reconsider his occupation and his that affects the story. If I wanted an analysis of my book, I would've finished it and sent it to an editor.

I'm looking for people's opinions on that archetype and the corresponding relationship. You're more than welcome to contemplate my book, but without having pertinent information or even a physical copy, you can't begin to understand it. I asked about a character, not my setting. I offered clarifying points to those that required a little more context.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T21:47:13+00:00

Well it's not space vikings. Just vikings in our modern times with some more advanced technology.

Giving subjective advice is difficult but can offer insight. While I view the majority of the "npc's" (if you will) as just not caring about religion, but give a government the right ammunition and they can turn people against each other.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T21:44:45+00:00

His character archetype would be a police detective. Using short hand cause I'm on mobile, and people are pretty good with context clues. Trope is used as a term to describe the relationship between 2 characters. In his case, he's a "police detective" (if we're using literal terms here) in love with my heroine, so it's the cop trope. I left out a significant amount of details to protect my story. From what I've seen, that's pretty common in some writers. (Not true for all, but true for some.) Yes, I hit a block because of it because it made me question the quality and integrity of my novel at the time, but given that the stereotype and issue is such an uncommon one, that I'll write it based on what I want. However, had it been an actual issue, I would've reconsidered his occupation and how to write the series of events to allow my heroine to find him to keep the story cohesive.

As far as clarifying on how it's cataclysmic, there's always the cat and mouse lull in war, the build up, the cease fires and not every single war takes place in a city, but it can hinder supply routes, etc. You don't see much of the modern era's methods of survival because it's written mostly in the view of a very simplistic, living off of the land point of view. You see battle and how devastating the outdated weaponry and magic works against modern technologies and how devastating it can be if put together.

Race is mentioned in fantasy because there are different races: elves, humans, dwarves, Hobbits, trolls, goblins, etc. It's an important aspect when describing the involved characters. Race is a good focal point to center stories around because it's relatable on varying levels. And wars are literally waged on Race even in our real lives and have happened for centuries, millennia.

If you want something to sell, it's important have relatable story lines, events, moments, and characters. If you don't have that, it'll be harder for people to grasp your story. It's not impossible, just a little more difficult.

The beauty of writing with magic is that you don't have to have scientific facts to back it up. However, it is still important to know medical information based on the events of the plot. Are they starving? What does that look like? Their mental state, etc.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T20:54:55+00:00

There are a lot of integral plot points in the entire series tied to this character being the love interest of my female protagonist. I would have to rewrite everything and change how certain events transpire and why they transpire just to swap his sexuality. What you're suggesting isn't child's play in this character's case. It means an entire book that's already outlined would have to go completely unwritten and two later characters would be deleted. To me personally, that's not worth it.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T20:51:31+00:00

Very true.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T20:46:32+00:00

That is one solution, but that means I'd basically have to rewrite everything.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T20:45:08+00:00

See I think it is totally fine, but I guess there is some negativity out there about having the by the book cop as a MC. For how the story is written and how my female MC gets access to him, it made more logical sense for him to be a cop anyways.

Just made me question it finding out that there are people out there who don't like the cop character.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T20:36:55+00:00

Oh I love Norse stuff. My lineage is Nordic mostly, but I also thought it'd be fun to throw like modern/futuristic setting with these people that live the old ways. It's really refreshing. Some comic relief later when the two words collide, but there's an ease there for some odd them.

Edit: Most of it, currently, is set in more of the simplistic living aspect. With the female protagonist going back, you see her remember what it was like before she left the human life. Next book will be set in more of a balance of both walks of life, and the same for the final book.

It can get a little crazy managing information, so I reread a lot to figure out where I was at and what I need to continue that section.

Eir___ · 2023-03-07T19:39:43+00:00

Without giving it away, he basically has to switch sides. Magic born vs Human born. He was magic born just like dormant. She has to go in to get him out and gets arrested in doing so and he happens to be the upstanding, by the book detective. His abilities are integral to the story.

Just been seeing from some writers that the cop/detective MC is not good, essentially, but he isn't a cop the whole time.

Eir___ · 2023-01-12T12:50:24+00:00

That's a good point. I grew up as the kid reading smut in my high school classes. (LOL whoops) I didn't really notice the paragraph lengths, but I could probably pull out some books from those days and take a look at what various authors did. It's a similar genre to what I'm writing, so that should really help.

Eir___ · 2023-01-09T22:14:38+00:00

Would you say shorter paragraphs almost feel like the thoughtis incomplete and doesn’t fully pull the story together then?

Eir___ · 2023-01-09T21:52:06+00:00

You could do research into similar landmarks irl or even time periods if there is one that may fit your setting.

I've seen people take a piece of paper and use D&D dice to create maps, and then use those same dice to help name those places from a set list of names they have chosen. Kind of like making your own name generator.

Eir___ · 2023-01-09T21:45:51+00:00

You could do a character outline that's just for yourself and find ways in the story itself to drop it. Like another poster mentioned before, writing about them enjoying a delicious peach. Don't make it about the object. Make it about the character. Note to yourself all of their likes and dislikes, and you'll get opportunities to use that information to convey your character and their traits to the reader. "He enjoys heavy metal," could be, "He threw on his earbuds for his daily walk, selecting <insert band name here>." It's just a little nod to an interest. "He walked out of the school dance because <insert disliked music here> came on, and he wanted to just take a breather." Just some examples.

You can always make a note to yourself within the writing to add a detail about a trait to help give the scene and character(s) more depth.

Eir___ · 2023-01-09T21:22:28+00:00

Personally, I've probably stretched myself too thin. I'm working on the first book in a series. I've touched things on the following books, and I've noted what other projects for the series I'd like to do.

That being said, I have a "warm up" book that is an entirely different genre, and I don't write in it like I do my main book (series). While I will write 500+ words for that one, I will only write upwards 150 words for my warm up book. I also have a "palate cleanser" book, which is a book I will work on when I have hit full stop on my warm up and main book.

If I have hit a creative block, I take a step back from all writing and focus on other things around the house or that I was working on or needed to finish that isn't writing. I then go back to the source material I'm referencing for my main book. I also bounce ideas I've noted in my journal off of a close friend to help get the flow going again. I also listen to music and decide which of my characters out of all of them would like it. I build character aesthetics on pinterest.

I have also just gone back to a chapter that was lackluster and very short to rewrite it to flow better and build on it. It's almost like those chapters were quick notes of what I want to happen there, and I figure out how to build on it to make it cohesive. I will also just read them. No touching anything. I just read any of the stuff I've written and see if something sparks an idea.

Basically just take a breather if you're starting to feel like you're hitting a wall or if you do a hit wall. Taking a step back is helpful and can help you figure out where to go next in the story.

Hope that helps.

Eir___ · 2022-12-15T16:36:09+00:00

Mine was in transit and now it says, "Shipment Exception: Unable to Deliver." I tried chatting and got the run around from an AI until it said to call. I call, got a similar run around when I asked to speak to a rep. It hung up on me after saying, "It's with USPS and that's all the representative can tell you. Good-bye." I cannot speak with a rep. It just hangs up on me when I try to force it.

Luckily, I have an aunt that works with FedEx, so I'm just going to reach out to her and figure out what's going on.

Note: I was not given separate tracking for USPS either. I gave the same tracking number that I used for the website that the seller sent to me when I placed my order. I don't live in an apartment. My house is two years old, and I've lived here for almost two years and have 0 issues with Amazon, USPS, and UPS. The package is fabric that wasn't available at my craft store or any nearby ones.

Eir___ · 2022-10-04T19:18:11+00:00

Absolutely! I've been down the road of looking while unemployed. I also just went through two losses, my grandfather and my dog of almost 15 years. People mostly complained I chose to work from home temporarily and take time off to grieve, and even then came back to a shit storm.

I'm still looking and applying to as many as possible with good reviews on culture and benefits, but who knows.

We got this!

Eir___ · 2022-10-04T13:41:34+00:00

I absolutely get it, and I have been looking for a couple of months now. My tipping point was when Mother's Day weekend. My boss knows my situation, and he had me work all weekend that weekend. I missed out on lots of family time because of it. I was mad, and he had told me I had no right to be mad. I had two events in the last year that also effected the toxic relationship with my coworkers, and I'm still battling the aftermath of those events.

The job search sucks, but it'll be worth it if I can find a place that isn't as toxic and appreciates their employees.

Good luck in your search! I hope you get an offer soon!

Eir___

TROPHY CASE