Need advice - Problems starting one charecter group - Writers Forum

Lord Raiden · 04-17-2008, 11:57 AM

Ok, I'm working on book 3 of my series, "Lion on the Water", and I'm working through the initial characters in the book. Only 5 total characters that comprise 3 character groups (2, 2 and a large group, only 1 of which will remain past the opening) will make it past the opening of the book and into the main body. Book 3 picks up ~30 years after the end of book 2. I've already started the opening stories for groups 1 (a single carryover charecter) and 2 (two of the siblings), but group 3 (the two shape shifters) is baffling me how to properly start them.

The general idea is to give them a small back history. They've essentially been through hell the past 30 years on a gradually increasing scale. To start with they're looked down upon because they're two minions from the bad guys made into good guys. They're eventually treated as good guys and are somewhat loosely accepted by everyone because of the things they did. After the bad guys are defeated, they take over protecting a group of children, ie being their guardians, who have a special part in the story of book 2, as well as all the new colonists who are arriving at the continent.

Fast forward a bit and as time goes on, people who knew them die off, their identities as shape shifters is revealed, and administrations change, plus their previous affiliation with the book 2 bad guy, all slowly gain them "enemy" status. This causes kind of a "witch hunt" of sorts that leads one of the characters to help them fake their deaths. But now they're in hiding trying, blending in and becoming part of the society, so as not to be discovered by the powers that be who are still sort of hunting for any more minions that might have somehow escaped destruction like they did.

That's where the story picks up. The thing is, none of this history gets relayed to the reader until several chapters later during a conversation. That leaves me with two guys who are shapeshifters trying to hide among normal humans. Since I have to blend them into a single storyline with the other two groups at a near point a few chapters on, I want something that's believable that'll introduce them and maybe give a hint to who they are before that.

Any ideas? Is this something I can do easily without the huge history lesson, or am I just making this too hard and I should intro them as themselves, or even possibly not intro who they are and just treat them as mystery characters until I can dump the brief history lesson that'll explain who they are and why they're still there? Any ideas would be helpful.

Ore-sama · 04-17-2008, 12:23 PM

Hmm, well you could try this is you like:

-Have chapter one show something that happens later in the story and end on a cliffhanger. Chapter two starts at where this book should begin, and one of the characters nararates about how they're shape shifters who have to hide without going into any details about why they have to hide. Then maybe a chapter or two later, have them running from police or something and they meet this other gorup in an alleyway or some such similar place and agree to hide them only if they tell this group who they are with the group having a suspicion. Then have them give the entire history to the group.

Ungood · 04-17-2008, 03:10 PM

"I am telling you john, sex with humans is not bad once you get used to were the sex organs are...."

Try that...

Ungood.

LolliAdverbs · 04-17-2008, 09:11 PM

I'm with Ungood. That's really the best way.

Maybe you could have them mix-up gender pronouns with each other. Maybe they can recognize some of their kids on the street, but the kids don't know how they are. Then, they can be like, "Oh little Johnnie. Stop pulling hair. You're not twelve anymore" and then the Johnnie can be like "who the hell are you?" That could leave a nice hint about their pasts, and what they are.

(yes, I talk like a valley girl when I pitch ideas. It's an awful habit)

I don't understand the other part of the story that you're trying to blend them into, so I can't help more than that.

Lord Raiden · 04-24-2008, 05:32 PM

Ok, time for an update. I finally got it figured out how to introduce the characters, and after doing a test write, it worked out quite well. I ended up bringing in a couple of characters from the previous book for a cameo appearance. What originally caused this issue was that I originally wanted to use as few characters as possible in the opening of the book since only a few characters would carry over into the main story. So I brought back three of the side characters from book 2 for a guest appearance, and I'm highly considering bringing one of them into the main story as well now instead of leaving him in his cameo roll, mostly because of how I ended up using him in this opening segment. IE, he fits a need I have, and does it quite well.

But as for how I did it, you'll just have to wait for the book to find out.