Gary Hurtubise

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Month: February 2019

DIY MFA Prompt: Fav Story Type

February 23, 2019 / / 0 Comments

            I’m going to focus on the idea that Gabriela lays out in her book: “Story is about power struggle”.  She outlines three options for protagonists and antagonists to interact, namely,

  • protagonists interacting with antagonists with greater power
  • protagonists confronting antagonists of equal power; or
  • protagonists confronting themselves.

Writing what you’re comfortable with…

            Looking back over the stories I’ve written – long and short – I’d have to say that I automatically lean towards the underdog story, whereby the protagonist should not stand a chance against the antagonist – be it individual or institutional.  I don’t know that I like that story type best; I just write that way.

…Reading what you like.

            The stories I like to read are quite different.  I’m drawn to protagonists or (often) supporting characters of great power, such as Lestat, from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, or Cormac, of Neal Asher’s Polity universe, or Nynaeve, from Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

            I guess I like to see the exercise of great strength; perhaps I’m just not comfortable writing about it.

            That’ll be the last writing prompt for now!  I want to thank Gabriela Pereira and her DIY MFA Program for providing food for thought these last few weeks.  Time to get back to drafting my latest novel, THINK, Inc.!

            Keep writing!

DIY MFA Prompt: Fav Supporting-Character Archetype?

February 8, 2019 / / 1 Comment

Short Stories vs. Novels

I started today’s writing prompt reflecting on characterization in my novels versus in my short stories.

I love and hate short stories.  Love them for how (relatively) quickly I can pump them out and submit them; hate them for how I inevitably end up cut-cut-cutting the hell out of them, because they always go over prescribed word counts <sigh>.

All that being said, my shorts are protagonist-focused, of course, and so my supporting characters tend to come out pretty one-dimensional (ie: they serve a single purpose in advancing the story).

Novels – Where Supporting Characters Shine

The supporting cast get to shine in my novels.  And many of them seem to fill the role of BFF / sidekick… with one unique caveat.

I’ve discovered (today, as I reflect and write on this…!), that my ‘main’ supporting characters each seem to possess skills that surpass my protagonist.

For example, in my novel DARKSEA, ‘Ragna’ is a badass warrior woman who accompanies scrawny, ill-adjusted Egin on his blundering adventures.

A fantasy portal novel that I’m world-building, has two supporting characters picking up the pieces, while the self-centered protagonist forces his way through the story.

And without giving away spoilers, my latest work-in-progress, entitled THINK, Inc., has a supporting character who unknowingly out-classes my protagonist in skill by many orders of magnitude…

            I guess you could say my supporting characters act as portable deus-ex-machina’s, should there be a need to overcome some of the more mundane obstacles my protagonists face, leaving the main-dudes to work through their personal issues, unfettered.

Shall I Try a Different Archetype for “The Next Novel”?

Now that I’ve read more about some of the other archetypes Gabriela writes about (nemesis, mentor, love-interest, fool), I’m wondering if I might inject future stories with someone other than a good-ol’ BFF to hangout with my prot?

            Happy writing!

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