Adventures in Kyerrion

Novel Writing Workshop
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[#Step 1]: story idea and driving force
[#Step 2]: characters and their purpose

NWW Step 1

Idea: "High fantasy" adventures in the style of D&D modules (but there won't be references to the rules or anything)! And I guess it won't even be "high" fantasy since there's no magic. Oh well, it's the style I'm going for. The "magic" can come from unexplainable objects and drugs (is that a good idea?). The main character is Verkije-Rigexiti, a karangal, from the planet Kyerrion. Other characters are Sothalen (tarkaan), Lehahel (femehan ankod), Þevein (warrior falangezka) and a toppenran couple.

Driving force: They go on a journey to kill all other tarkaans.
More? Options: Lehahel's aging? Lehahel's bipolar personality disorder (I'm not very interested in writing about this)? The two toppenrans wondering what sex they are and whether they should have children? Verkije... er...?

NWW Step 2

Organisation: I'm going to type. (I do carry a little notepad for emergencies, but this far I've mostly used it to note down other things that I need to remember.)

Some characters: http://elftown.eu/_veltzeh%27s%2030%20characters%202010
Verkije-Rigexiti, Lehahel, Sothalen, Þevein Veejelei, Kijuli Paatilo Tarkii, Laitie Kartie Tiraani

•	Can your protagonist accomplish the "goal" of your idea alone?	Nope, no one can, ever.
•	Is it realistic for your protagonist to journey alone?	Verkije: yes; Sothalen: yes; Lehahel: no; Þevein: yes; Kijuli and Laitie: not really.
•	Should your protagonist have a best friend? A few close friends? A few distant friends?	Umm... no idea. The six are a pretty tight group.
•	Do any of your characters have family that play an important role in the story?	Two characters make a family. Verkije's search for a family of eir own might count.
•	What characters do you need to comprise the "good" side? The "bad" side?	The "good" side is a band of six characters. The "bad" side is "monster of the week".
•	Do you have an antagonist?	Not a single one, but yeah.
•	Are there any neutral or helping characters necessary to drive the plot?	Not really. They can provide information, and that's about it.

 
2. Getting to know you!
 
So you have all your characters now right? Time to understand them better. For each character, write down what their main purpose or goal in the story will be. Why are they necessary? What will they do? What do they ultimately desire out of their existence? These things are important. Maybe minor characters can be purposeless, but generally characters who wander around aimlessly or who show up conveniently when they're needed and say exactly what you want are not very compelling.

Verkije: Eir goal is to travel around, practise eir mind and body and find a partner and other karangal far-walkers. Ey is necessary because ey's the leader and brains of the whole operation and the one most inclined to travel and get through anything ey faces. (Why wouldn't ey stay with any of the karangal far-walkers ey finds??? I can only think of a poor excuse: they hate each other. Maybe Verkije does have children with them, but they don't turn out to be far-walkers. Far-walkers aren't THAT rare that Verkije wouldn't run across them... though ey can run across very few of them.)
Lehahel: Eir goal is tol ive with those that accept em. Ey doesn't really have a choice since ey's rather dependant on others. This doesn't bother em. Ey wishes to become a part of a femehan community but other femehans won't let em. (Why doesn't Verkije mind-modify a villageful of femehans to accept em??? Maybe Lehahel's disorder needs to be worse so that ey can't function properly without a skilled far-walker. Argh.)
Sothalen: Kill all tarkaans! Without em, there would be no quest.
Þevein: Fight? Yeah. Other falangezkas don't give em what ey needs. Verkije and Sothalen do.
Kijuli and Laitie: Whoever heard of a travelling toppenran far from a lake or sea? No one! Whoever heard of a toppenran who doesn't know eir own sex? No one! These two are here to break the stereotype! Goal/purpose??? What do they want??? Will their children join Verkije, Þevein and Sothalen? Why wouldn't they?

3. The big step
39.Novel Writing Workshop.AIK.Characters