Green Embers makes a good point. Special powers are one thing – which I have in my story – but the important things are actually the characters themselves. What makes them tick, etc. It’s the stuff inside – the internal thoughts & feelings & remembered experiences which shape behaviour and therefore plot & story. One of the things I’m focusing on in the edit is the shaping of character, especially Lily. Her overall arc is what’s driving the story after all.
Source: All the Wrong Lessons from Lord of the Rings
All the Wrong Lessons from Lord of the Ringsby Green Embers |
I have been kicking this post idea in my head for a bit now. I have previously discussed my issues with modern fantasy (it was a guest post on a blog I no longer frequent) but still I come back to it. I keep thinking of Lord of the Rings – often thought of as the father of fantasy – and the thought that keeps bouncing around in my head is how the authors inspired by this tale took all the wrong lessons from it.
The issue that I find most grievous is the chosen one trope. A young boy or girl finds out they have a particular essence that makes them unique and are thrust into the role of hero. I despise this trope because I feel it negatively impacts the psyche of the young. They too want to feel that they are special, that they have some hidden ability that sets them on a path of adventure. If you look at people we would consider pillars of heroism, we would find that there is nothing that truly makes them more special except they chose to develop the skills that would set them apart. It takes hard work to develop abilities, but often in modern fantasy this is glossed over because the protagonist is special because he was born that way.
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myzania 