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The Clay Amulet, Chapter 2

Beginning

“Wake up.”

I grumbled incoherently, and tried to swat away the hand that was shaking me awake. My head felt like someone was trying to mine a tunnel through my gray matter, and the shaking was only making it worse.

“Wake up! We have to get on the move. We need to make the most of our head start.” the annoying voice said, “If you don’t get up, I’ll be forced to leave you behind. And I won’t pay you.”

Well, that got me up.

I slid out of my makeshift blanket-bed, and took in the scene around me. We were camped a little ways under an outcropping, on the edge of a wide meadow. Our horses were tied to a small sapling, off to the side, and my employer was hastily preparing them to go.

“Eat something and sober up. We’ve got to move as soon as we can.” She paused. “You aren’t a vegetarian, are you?”

I noticed, now, that there was some sort of meat on a skewer being blackened over the fire. It smelled delicious. At that moment, my stomach very loudly reminded me that I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the previous day. I picked up the skewer and took a bite.

The meat was hot and so tender that it practically melted in my mouth. The outside was slightly crunchy, and the meat smoky and unexpectedly sweet. I swallowed and proceeded to wolf the rest of it down.

#writing #creative writing #IndigoBishop #The Clay Amulet #clayamulet

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The Clay Amulet, Chapter One

((Sorry about the terrible title. Updates should come at least once a day.))

Taverns. Both a blessing and a curse, really. On the bright side, people looking for help always know where to find a traveling adventurer to throw their money at. On the not-so-bright side, well, there were the drunk adventurers.

“Look, you’ve had enough to drink, and I’m not interested. Why don’t you wander off somewhere and let me finish my drink?” I snapped, refusing to look up from my glass of elven cider.

“But you’re such a lurvly woman! Sittin’ heer, all alone... It ain’t right!” slurred the drunken knight. If he was a knight. The man in question had more resemblance to a shaved monkey carrying a rusty sword than a nobleman.

“I’m sitting in this tavern because I’m looking for work, not because I’m lonely.”

“Oh, so’s you’re one of them ladies. How much?”

I put down my glass carefully, turned to the man, opened my mouth to provide a suitably cutting remark before being cut off.

“I only have a copper or two t’spare...” He looked me up and down, “Nah, one should be enough.”

That was the last straw. To be honest, I could have just thrown a drink in his face instead of setting his hair on fire. Or I could have thrown the drink in his face and then set his hair on fire. Alcohol is flammable, or so I’ve heard. Actually, that probably explained why his hair burned so well. Not that he didn’t deserve it. It was just a cosmetic thing. And maybe next time he’ll be able to tell the difference between a mage and a “painted lady”’

I mean, I don’t even wear a dress! I wear a robe! A wizard’s robe! They’re practically designed to keep their occupants chaste! No wrists, no ankles, no nothing in view!

I was completely in my rights to set his hair on fire! It was completely unfair that tavern kicked me out!

#Tumblrfiction #fantasy #writing #creative writing #IndigoBishop #story #mage #The Clay Amulet #clayamulet

The Button

(this is a short, ten-minute play that I wrote about a year ago, about a button that does mysterious things. Enjoy.)

1: You have to see it! Come on, Come on, come on.

3: We’re going.

1: Here it is!

2: ... It’s a button. You dragged us to the school’s basement for this? I have a tutoring session with Jack in, like, ten minutes.

1: A RED button! A button that says ‘Do Not Push Under Any Circumstances ever!’

3: So?

1: WE PUSH IT.

2: No you don’t!

1: Why not?

2: You don’t push the buttons that say ‘Don’t push!’ In movies and things, people always press them and (makes a BOOM noise and gestures with hands)

1: ... They are transported to a magical world where they have adventures?

3: I say let her push it.

(1 does a victory dance and heads for button)

#Play #writing #playwriting #indigobishop #genderless #button #sci fi #science fiction #short #belief #mad scientist #belief machine #awkward #Creative Writing

The Mourner Effect/Killing off Characters

In the Pixar Movie Up, in the first 8 minutes, there is a montage. It's less than five minutes, and is known for its ability to make people cry. (Watch it. Try and keep your eyes dry.) The audience sees Carl and Ellie grow up together, get married, grow old together, and, eventually, split apart when Ellie dies. Part of why it's so very, very sad is that you know pretty much how Carl feels when Ellie dies. You empathize with him.

Which pretty much sums up the Mourner effect. Readers empathize with with the characters in mourning, and mourn themselves, even if they wouldn't be moved otherwise. If executed correctly, in a high-stakes story, the Mourner effect also sucks the reader in further and heightens the suspense. Dana, from Dana's Dojo, explains character death very well, with an approach that's both brutal and caring. "If you're putting your characters in mortal peril, important people must die from time to time," because in risky situations, people get hurt. Sometimes fatally.

Although, to pull off the mourner effect, you need people to kind of like the character, care about the character. This means, that instead of distancing yourself and your readers from the character, you need to pull the doomed character in closer, spending time getting to know them before they go and end the character's life. You have to talk to them, give them feelings and hopes, and when it comes time to kill the character off, you've got to tear up a little, not want to let them go, so your readers won't want to either.

You can see it in a lot of the really effective novels out there. The Deathly Hallows, for instance, the wizarding war is fought, and a lot of people die. They die horribly. Rowling constantly keeps the readers on the tips of their toes during the second half of the novel, making them try and guess who's going to make it out alive, even forcing them to wonder if Harry is going to survive. She endears characters to the audience and then kills them. They aren't clean, romantic deaths either. There's unfinished business, unfulfilled promises... and abandoned, mourning family and friends.

In The Hunger Games*, the Mourner Effect is all over the place. Particularly, with Rue's death. A small girl that reminds Katniss of her sister, Rue quickly becomes close to Katniss, and through her, the reader, even though they know that only one teenager can make it out of the arena alive. When Rue dies, Katniss is amazingly upset, even though she tries to remain strong.

However much the readers enjoyed the characters, they were not essential to furthering the plot. They were important characters, yes, or in the case of Rue and Ellie, they were made to be killed off.

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* (In both the book in the movie, god, the movie.)

Post Script: There are also a bunch of excellent non-popular fiction examples, those are just common examples. Feel free to reblog with more examples.

#IndigoBishop #The Mourner Effect #Writing #author #how to make your reader cry #killing off characters #some spoilers #stories #tips #writing advice #writing tips #killing off your characters #Hunger Games #Creative Writing