When the Hero is NOT a Hero

Protagonist & Antagonist ~ A Different Definition

There are Three Essential Characters in every story. There may be any number of side characters, but in traditional Adventures, and Romances of every stripe the main conflict is usually, if not always, a triangle of complimentary opposites.

Translation: You could tell the WHOLE story with ONLY these Three Characters; perhaps not with any real detail, but you could still do the entire basic plotline.

THREE Characters?

Yep. I'm sure you're familiar with: Hero – Villain – Heroine (or Sidekick) already. Those are pretty darn standard. So, let's define them in a more literary, (and complicated,) fashion shall we?

Antagonist - Protagonist - Ally

ALLY? Who the heck is That?

The Ally
Always there, though seldom named is: the Ally- the Companion to the Hero. The ALLY's function is to be the Middle-Man, the nay-sayer that presents an opposing view to both the Hero and the Villain. The ALLY is the Obstacle Character who adds complications to the plot, making matters worse for both the Hero and the Villain, generally by getting in the way.

In Romances, this character is the Love Interest, in modern mainstream fiction, and tons of movies, this is the trouble-inducing Best Friend or Interfering Relative, (often a younger sibling). In traditional fiction, they were known as the Victim.

In ALL cases, this character's FATE turns the plot at the Climax, and more often than not, is the story's VIEWPOINT CHARACTER.

The HEROINE

Lady Hero or just another Ally?
Traditionally, fictional Females were NOT allowed to hurt anybody, and they NEVER killed anybody. The Heroine was not allowed to defeat her own Villain. Her male companion did all her dirty work for her. However, since only the Protagonist faces the Antagonist in the final battle, this made the Heroine's male companion the actual Protagonist, and the Heroine, the most common viewpoint character in a Romance novel– the Ally or designated Victim.

Does the term: 'Damsel in Distress', ring any bells?

The Heroines in traditional stories served two purposes only:
- To get into trouble, so they could be saved by the hero
- As a reward for the hero's heroic efforts. (I know, I know... Don't gag on me.)

Lately, fictional Heroines have begun to defeat their Villains all by themselves, (Lara Croft anyone?) so that rule is changing. But it's still not acceptable for the Heroine to battle the Villain in some arenas.

In Walt Disney's Mulan, Mulan is clearly the viewpoint character and presented as the story's Protagonist, and yet Walt Disney still made her male companion, Mushu, the story's Comic Relief character, take out the Villain – not her, (or her designated Hero!)

In Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Belle is the clearly the viewpoint character and presented as the story's Protagonist, and yet Walt Disney still made her male companion, Beast, take out the Villain – not her.

However, in Tomb Raider, Lara Croft not only does her own butt-kicking, she frequently rescues everyone else!

Antagonist - Protagonist - Ally / Hero - Companion - Villain?

Who is supposed to be What?

Well, that depends on the character's ACTIONS in the story and their effect on the PLOT. Lets look at some literary Definitions that came from one of the ancient Greeks, Aristotle to be exact.

ANTAGONIST: Traditionally the Villain, the one causing all the trouble. (Anti = against: "The one who struggles AGAINST.")*

PROTAGONIST: Traditionally the Hero, trying to keep the Antagonist at bay and keep things the way they are. (Pro = for: "The one who struggles FOR.")*

ALLY: In Greek Tragedies, this character was the designated Victim of the Protagonist's poor judgment whose fate brought on the tragic ending, OR the Only Survivor, who played official witness to the heroic struggle between the Antagonist and the Protagonist. They "Lived to tell the Tale."

In modern fiction, ANY of these three character positions can operate under ANY of the three master character drives: Motive - Action - Emotion, and the Protagonist does NOT necessarily have to be the story's Hero, just who the story is ABOUT. Additionally, the Viewpoint Character, the one telling the story, does NOT have to be the Protagonist. In fact, it's very traditional for the ALLY to be the story's Narrator- not the Protagonist.

"But I thought that the Protagonist was always the Main Character?"

In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Watson was the Viewpoint Character, he told the stories, and yet those stories were all about Holmes who solved the mysteries and faced all the villains. Holmes was obviously the Protagonist; making Watson the Ally.

The Problem with"Protagonist"

In a story's grand finale, the Antagonist & Protagonist do battle, and 'winner take all'. Therefore, the one character who does battle with the Antagonist is, by definition, the Protagonist, (and vice versa.)

BUT ~ No one wants to think of the Protagonist as being anything other than the Main Viewpoint Character, whether or not they do battle with the Antagonist. Literary Scholars don't like their definitions changed. Unfortunately, their educated opinions are not having any effect on the characters appearing in modern fiction- such as the Anti-Hero, Honorable Villain and the Trickster Ally.

In Moby Dick, the main character Ishmael, is commonly thought of as being the Protagonist because he told the story. However, Ishmael did NOT do battle with the white whale– Captain Ahab did, therefore Ishmael was NOT the Protagonist at all.

Then… What was Ishmael?

Moby Dick

• The reversal of the protagonist's fortune is brought on by a personal flaw.
• The eventual recognition by the protagonist of this tragic flaw
• The resulting moral consequences of their actions.
• The final moral re-affirmation of the audience- delivering catharsis.

• Protagonist = Main or Central Character. "The one who struggles FOR."
• Antagonist = Obstacle to the Protagonist. "The one who struggles AGAINST." The obstacle that stands in the way of the protagonist.

In Moby Dick, the White Whale was minding his own business when Captain Ahab attacked him the first time. Seriously pissed off, the whale ate Ahab's leg. Ahab of course, decllares revenge against the monster.

And Ishmael?
He's not there yet. This is the Back Story, all the stuff that happened before Ishmael stepped on Ahab's ship for the first time.

The story Moby Dick is all about Captain Ahab's struggles with the white whale, making AHAB the main character – though no one I know would ever call him Heroic or a Protagonist.


• Harmatia = Fatal flaw of the Protagonist. In a classical tragedy, the protagonist falls from a great position of power due to a flaw in their character, usually an emotional instability, like pride (hubris), in the case of Oedipus.

In Moby Dick, Ahab's overwhelming pride, "I WILL kill that whale!" causes him to pit his ship, and the lives of his men, against a monster far too big for him. The Whale's thirst for revenge is also driven by Pride.

The Whale and Ahab BOTH have the same flaw; a VERY traditional trademark of the Protagonist and Antagonist.


• Peripetia = Reversal of Fortune. The reversal of fortune that besets the protagonist and is intended to elicit our pathos. our pity, and sympathy.

In Moby Dick, Ahab finds the white whale (again minding his own business,) and attacks. The Reversal happens when the whale obviously realises who is attacking him, and goes after Ahab, attacking the part of the ship Ahab occupies.


• Anagnorisis = Recognition of Deeds. When the protagonist understands that their plight has been brought about by their own harmatia, their Fatal Flaw.

In Moby Dick, Ahab's ship is sinking and his men are dying. He REALISES that the whale has made Ahab a personal enemy – and it's his own fault. If anyone is to survive, he must face the whale HIMSELF.


• Catharsis = Purgation of Pathos / Establishment of Ethos. A play is considered complete when the audience is cleansed morally or emotionally by the closure of the tragedy. The catharsis is intended to fortify the ethos, the cultural framework, of the audience.

In Moby Dick, Ahab dies and the whale goes away, leaving the survivors alone. Which proves that the whale had more honor than Ahab. The whale does not attack innocent bystanders- unlike the insane sea captain.

And Ishmael? He's left behind, floating in the sea after witnessing the entire battle.

In a Nutshell:
• Glorious Hero does something he really shouldn't do.
• Not-so-glorious Hero realizes that it's his own damned fault.
• Hero crashes and burns. (He dies, she dies, everybody dies...)
• The audience feels good because they didn't make the protagonist's mistakes.

In Moby Dick, Who is the REAL Protagonist?

In Moby Dick, the White Whale is fighting FOR his Life. He's the Protagonist.
Ahab is fighting AGAINST the whale's right to live. He's the Antagonist.

So, what was Ishmael?

Ishmael did not agree with either the Whale, for its fierce attacks, or with Captain Ahab's reasons for chasing Moby Dick. He possessed an opposing opinion to both. He was an Obstacle Character, but he worked for Ahab, technically putting him on Ahab's side.

Ishmael did not affect the plot in any major way. He was merely an Observer, the official witness to the epic battle between the whale and the sea captain – he was an ALLY.

Moby Dick is a prime example of modern literature proving that Protagonists are Not always heroic, Antagonists are Not always the bad guys, and the designated Victim (the Ally,) is not always a damsel in distress – or even a Victim.

And yet, literary professionals INSIST that Ishmael is the Protagonist on the grounds that Ishmael Told the Story, therefore he HAD to be a Main Character: the Protagonist.

Um... WRONG!

The accepted 'literary' definitions for Antagonist and Protagonist just don't FIT the modern day Anti-Hero, Honorable Villain and Trickster Ally.

But ~ No One wants to admit that a Protagonist might be the Villain, and an Antagonist might be the Hero despite the reams of modern fiction and hundreds of popular movies that have such characters. It takes a PHD or a Master's Degree to change an educated opinion- something I don't have the time to get.

So, let's go around that particular literary road-block and re-label those character positions a bit more closely to their sources:
 
Proponent – Adversary – Ally

ADVERSARY– Anti-establishment; the main character attempting to go against the status quo, by breaking the rules of their society.
Definition: Opponent,
Synonyms: antagonist, attacker, bad guy, bandit, competitor, contestant, enemy, foe, match, opposer, rival

PROPONENT – Pro-establishment; the main character in support of the status quo and the rules of their society.
Definition: Advocate
Synonyms: backer, champion, defender, enthusiast, exponent, expounder, friend, partisan, patron, protector, second, spokesperson, subscriber, supporter, upholder, vindicator

ALLY – The main supporter of one or the other; usually a lover. (It's not unusual for both the Proponent and the Adversary to each have an Ally, but only one Ally actually turns the plot.)
Definition: Friend
Synonyms: accessory, accomplice, associate, co-worker, coadjutor, collaborator, colleague, confederate, friend, friendly, helper, partner

VILLAIN - The main Bad-Guy.
HERO - The main character that faces the Bad-Guy at the climax.
COMPANION - The Buddy, Love-interest, Friend, Victim, and official witness to the heroic struggle between the Hero and the Villain.

So, to answer our earlier question: Who is What?

Hero – Companion – Villain
Proponent – Adversary – Ally

The answer is: Take your pick. The three main characters can be ANY combination.

In the 'Tomb Raider' movie series...

Proponent Heroine
Adversary Villain
Ally Hero

Lara Croft is a Proponent Heroine with Adversarial Villains and Paramour Allies. (Nice and simple.)

Reversed Characters

Anti-Heroes vs. Heroic Villains

The one who has the most battles with the ADVERSARY is your PROPONENT. The one left over, and normally instigating a lot of the tension between the P&A, is your ALLY. This does not change.

However, the labels: Hero and Villain are Interchangeable!

In the movie: 'The Crow'...

Adversary Hero
Proponent Villain
Ally Heroine

Eric Draven was dead. He and his love were murdered. He came back from the Dead with a motive: to get revenge. He attacked the people that killed him and then the boss that sent them to kill him and his love. Eric was the Motive-driven ADVERSARY of this story – and yet the HERO too!

The Villain in this story was busy keeping order in his little Kingdom of Crime. Eric instigated a war between himself and the Ruler of the city. The Villain was bothered into defending himself against Eric. In this story, the Villain was the Action-Driven PROPONENT.

The Next-door neighbor girl, Nell didn't want the Villain burning down her neighborhood – but she didn't want Eric seeking revenge either, because she cared about him, he was her FRIEND.

Nell was the Emotion-Driven ALLY – the Middle-Man in opposition to both the Hero & the Villain. Like a true Middle-Man, she gets trapped between the Proponent and the Adversary in the Climax – as a Victim. Nell was also the Viewpoint Character. Most of the movie is shown from her POV, a trademark of an Ally.

In the movie: 'Leon: The Professional'...

Adversary Heroine
Proponent Villain
Ally Hero

12-year-old HEROINE Mathilda, is looking for a safe haven from the very Villainous and temperamental Stansfield, a police officer, (a society-supporting PROPONENT,) that wiped out her family and intends to get her too. Mathilda takes matters into her own hands and bothers professional assassin Leon, into taking her in – and becomes his FRIEND.

Much of the story was filmed from Leon's POV -- trademark of an ALLY, additionally, Leon has the opposing opinion. Leon doesn't want her there, and doesn't want the attention of the police either. He tries to get her to keep her head down and forget, but Mathilda utterly refuses. She bullies him into teaching her how to use a gun because as far as she's concerned, she has a Reason to use one.

Like a true ADVERSARY she stalks Stansfield to his office fully intending to shoot him dead. Mathilda was obviously a Motive-Driven ADVERSARIAL HEROINE going after emotionally unstable Stansfield a PROPONENT VILLAIN. Like a true Middle-Man, Action-Driven Leon is caught between them.

However, even though the entire plot for 'Leon: The Professional', was set up to let the Adversarial Heroine face her very personal Villain; the under-aged Heroine is taught to use a gun and other assassin's tools, the Anti-hero Ally ended up actually taking the villain out. I suspect that, at the very last second, someone changed their mind about letting a kid kill.

And the deciding factor for a story's Villain?

The Villain's INABILITY to Change is what makes them the VILLAIN and the reason WHY they LOSE.

The Hero Crashes, Burns, Learns from his mistakes, and Rises Again.
The Villain merely Crashes and Burns. He does NOT learn from his mistakes. He does Not rise again.

And there you have it.

 

Writing LOVE vs SEX

Writing the LOVE Scene vs. the SEX Scene

"…How exactly I would go about writing a 'romantic/love' scene?"

I believe what you're actually asking is the same question asked by everyone in the entire world: "How can you tell when you are loved?"

First of all, don't confuse Romance with Love. They are two completely different things!


Love vs. Romance ~ There IS a difference!

Romance – a manipulation technique designed to make someone receptive to Sex. The source of Romance is LUST.
Love – when someone's happiness means more than your own. The source of Love is CARING.

To many people, Romance means 'showing love'. That's not true. You show love by Protecting the ones you care for with the intent to ensure their lasting happiness. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're nice to them.


"How do you SHOW the difference?"

It's easier than you think, because you probably already do it regularly without realising it.

Think in terms of your pet...

When you want to show how much you care, you stroke them, cuddle them, and play with them. You also feed them, clean up their poop, and make sure they have vet check-ups. You do all of these things to keep them happy and healthy. You do these things to keep them from suffering in any way.

You do the SAME THING with people you love whether they are your parents, your friends, or your children – you hug them, play with them, joke around with them, make sure they've eaten, make sure their colds are taken care of, you make sure they are not suffering in any way, physically or emotionally. You also bitch them out when they've done something that could harm them or result in misery.

The difference between these people and a Lover, is that when you are showing that you care for a lover, you use sex to bring them the greatest physical pleasure you can.

Point Blank: Sex is just another form of PETTING.

LUST is a whole other story.


"How do you write a LOVE scene -- as opposed to a SEX scene?"


You write them exactly the same way. The real difference is the MOTIVE.

Love's motive is Affection.
Lust's motive is ORGASM.

LUST is a physical urge, like eating when you're hungry, seeking warmth in the cold, or needing to pee. It is an urge that seeks relief just like all your other physical urges.

If the urgency is great enough, LUST will attempt every dirty trick in the book to get their hands on their object of choice to gain some relief. If that particular object gives them exceptional pleasure, whether it be a dildo, a rubber doll, a super soft sock, or a person, they'll make sure that the toy is cared for, and in some cases, jealously guarded – so that the toy will still be there (and receptive) when they want to use it again.

The key word here is USE.

Lust USES others for selfish physical gratification.
Love doesn't use, it GIVES.

Love GIVES affection to make their one loved happy.

If something should happen to cause hurt to the one loved, the one who cares is devastated by their FAILURE stop suffering from happening.

Lust TAKES affection to make themselves happy.

Toys have PHYSICAL value, not Emotional value. If their toy should break or refuse to be used, they will be FRUSTRATED and ANGRY, but they won't think they failed. They'll think the TOY Failed and just go out and get another toy.

"What's the real difference between a Love scene and a Lust scene?"

Very simply: Lust Takes pleasure; Love Gives it.


Jealousy is NOT a sign of LOVE.

When one is jealous, they will do everything in their power to make sure that their lover focuses on no one but them. A common technique used by jealous lovers is isolation, where the jealous lover goes out of their way to chase away all possible threats, up to and including friends and family.

When one is in love, the fear that manifests is Insecurity, the fear that they're Not Good Enough for their love, that they don't deserve their love.

Insecurity and Jealousy are often mistaken for each other because they have many of the same symptoms. However, the reasons behind those symptoms are polar opposite.

Jealousy is a sign of possession, of ownership; of the fear that their object will be taken from them and no longer be theirs to USE.

When one is insecure, they're not afraid that their beloved will be taken because their beloved doesn't belong to them. It's the other way around; they belong to their beloved. They're not afraid of Theft; they're afraid of being thrown away, of Abandonment.

How do you tell the difference?

When one's lover sleeps with someone else…?

A Jealous lover will attack the one their lover dallied with. "How dare you touch him? He's mine!"

The Insecure lover will approach their lover directly and plead with them. "Why did you do this? What did I do wrong? Wasn't I good enough for you?" If their feelings are strong enough, they will ALLOW their lover to keep their toy because it makes them happy.

Why do some married women ALLOW their husbands to have a Mistress?

Because they LOVE their husbands and want them to be happy. If having a toy makes them happy, they'll even arrange to get a good quality toy for him.

Note: This happens far more often than you might realize. There are people who were personally invited to be a paid mistress by the wife of a corporate husband.

Why do married men ALWAYS return to their wives?

Because they LOVE their wives. Anyone else is just a toy to relieve their physical urges.

"I'm not sure I agree with the last bit about mistresses, but that's mostly because I find myself unable to justify anyone 'in love' ever cheating on their loved one - again, because it's hurtful and selfish, and a way of making yourself feel good, even as it hurts your husband/wife."


That bit about Mistresses was merely a point to show that someone who is in love will allow their loved one damned near anything, even if it hurts them- not an endorsement.

Love can be a real b!tch. Once you love someone, no matter what they do to you, you can't stop loving them. You can only endure it as long as you can, until either they straighten up, or they drive you away.

I learned my lessons through cold hard experience.

"Wow, I always thought Romance was about Love...?"


EVERYONE thinks Romance is about love- because we really, really WANT it to be.

Romance tells us that the Other Person gives up everything for Us, when in fact, the opposite is true. Real Love makes us give up everything for THEM.

When you think about it, Love is a very scary emotion. It makes us give up everything we want, everything we are for someone else. If they are not worthy of such a sacrifice, it doesn't matter because we LOVE them and want them to be happy at any cost.


Real Love comes in many different shapes and colors.

A love that looks destructive from the outside, such as Bondage and Domination, could in fact be perfectly supportive and exactly what both lovers need from each other. A good movie that illustrates this perfectly is "Secretary".

On the other hand, what an outsider may think is positive and supportive might in fact not be love at all. Case in point, stalking was once thought of as being an expression of love. Angry possessiveness can look an awful lot like love when in fact it is a terror tactic designed to isolate the one supposedly beloved.

When a lover asks their beloved to choose between them and anything else, a friend, a pet, or even a hobby, they not interested in their significant other's happiness. They are ensuring that their toy has no outside distractions and is available for their convenience. A good movie that illustrates this is "Sleeping with the Enemy".

A lover that yells at their beloved for their destructive habits, such as over-spending, drugs, booze, gambling... is more likely to be showing real love, than a lover that sweetly begs their beloved to drop their plans for going out with their friends for a romantic dinner date with them.

How do you tell the difference?

Measure each action by this question: "WHO benefits from the Results?"

I am firmly of the opinion that if one is going to write about Love, one should really know what it is and what it isn't.

Yaoi Writers: MASCULINE?

Yaoi Writers:
Are Your Male Characters MASCULINE?
Is your favourite Yaoi character YOU as a guy -- only BETTER?

Even if you are a writer that merely wants to create a convincing male character the advice can be simply applied and not just limited to Erotic stories with a masculine relationship.

Are you committing a MARY-SUE/Gary-Stu?

"The Mary Sue... is the highest form of fannish devotion to a series. You like it so much you want to come play in it yourself. Most fan writers are content to do this by sneaking in under cover of one of the canon characters.

Slipping on my Hakkai mask, I jump in the jeep and set out for the west with Sanzou and the guyz, pretending all along that it's Hakkai telling the story I'm writing and not me at all..."


Except for one BIG problem...
Hakkai shows Female Behaviour- not Male.

A common error that every beginning Female writer makes is that they assume that their male character will feel and react in the same way they would. They show them talking, thinking and behaving not as guys, but as they would react if facing the same situation as females.

Unfortunately, while the female writer may miss this, their Readers WON'T -especially if those readers are Guys.

When a female writer's male characters think, act, and talk in a feminine way, her audience will get annoyed - even if they don't understand why. The same is true if a male writer's female characters don't think or act or talk like real women.

So how do you keep this from happening to Your characters?


The Check-List:


A convincing masculine character WILL:

Be direct
Be issue-oriented
Be analytical
Act casual even in serious discussions
Interrupt
Make statements
Use short sentences
State his preferences clearly
Talk about concrete issues
Verbalise only things that he sees as important
Give advice
Ask specific questions
Choose to sit at angles from the person he's talking to

A convincing masculine character will NOT:

Ask lots of questions
Ask leading questions
Turn statements into questions
Invite a "just talk" situation
Speak in euphemisms
Use understatement
Downplay his ideas
Let his sentences trail off
Make agreeing noises
Volunteer his reasons
Hold eye contact for significant periods
Say "I'm sorry" unless he really means it
Tell stories about his failings
Use personal anecdote to make a point, especially in a professional setting
Get bogged down in introspection or self-doubt
Ask for help, especially with emotional issues
Volunteer information about his feelings
Ask about others' feelings
Ask for validation

Now that you have your answers, here are the reasons behind them.


The REAL differences between Males & Females:

Men see life in competitive terms.
Women see it in cooperative terms.
Men see compliance (going along with what someone else wants) as submission; women see compliance (going along with what someone else wants) as cooperation.

Men focus on action.
Women focus on emotion.
Men don't like to 'just talk.' They see conversation as a way to relay information, to show independence, and to illustrate status. Their conversations tend to be brief, episodic, and focused on concrete issues and events.

Men make decisions.
Women form a consensus.
Men state what they want; women make their preferences known and often add reasons for their requests in an attempt to convince the other party. Men don't volunteer reasons, and when asked for reasons, they often feel they're being challenged or checked up on. They feel as if the other party doesn't trust them.

Men try to solve problems.
Women talk about problems.
Women listen to other people in order to give support. Men listen to other people in order to give advice.

Men are direct.
Women are indirect.
Men tend to make statements; women make suggestions. Women use understatement and speak in euphemisms; men are blunt.

Men's actions and body language often do NOT reflect their feelings.
Women's usually do.
Men are direct when talking about concrete things, but indirect in talking about emotional issues. This is because being affected by one's emotions is not considered masculine. When forced to discuss emotions, men may attempt to distance themselves by avoiding eye contact, slouching, or turning away.

Men see themselves as protectors of women, and Women as protectors of children.
When a man is protective toward a woman, it is to show that he feels responsible for her safety; he's taking care of her. When a woman is protective toward a man, it is to show that she cares about him. Unfortunately, he's likely to interpret a protective act as condescending, as though he's a child.

Women see eye contact as concern.
Men see eye contact as challenge.
Women sit closer and look at people directly while talking to them, especially about serious subjects. Men sit at angles to each other and look at other things, almost never directly into each other's faces.

Men interrupt.
Women wait their turn.
Men interrupt in order to change the subject or to express their opinion; women interrupt with supporting noises or to avert conflict.

Men ask questions to get information.
Women ask questions to further the conversation.
Men see talk as information; women see talk as interaction. Women are more likely to make a telephone call just to talk; men make a telephone call to accomplish a specific purpose.

Women make agreeing noises when they're listening.
Men listen in silence.
"I know", "I understand", "Really?", "Yes,", "Uh-huh" are all feminine mannerisms. Women nod and smile and make agreeing noises to show that they're listening and to invite further conversation, not necessarily to indicate agreement. Men don't nod or smile or make agreeing noises unless they actually agree.

Men avoid discussion of emotional information.
Women invite it.
Women express emotion relatively easily, even in public- except for anger, which they tend to repress at all times. Men generally do not express any emotion other than anger in public.


"Men have no less need to deal with emotions just because they're not allowed to admit they exist, and so men have interactions that are ostensibly about something else but really about that. A casual observer won't notice, and even an insightful observer would not notice because that singular interaction/conversation... will appear as one of the other allowed competitive (safe) interactions. But viewed in the wider context of how those two men interact previously and after... the interaction will seem off-topic, unusual, almost as if one (or both) men isn't the same person as in the other encounters."


Women figure out how they feel - by talking about it.
Men figure out how they feel - by thinking about it.
Women are more likely to sit down and think through the whole history of a problem. Men are more action oriented, thinking what he's going to do about the problem.

Women say "I'm sorry."
Men say "I apologize."
"I'm sorry" implies taking responsibility, while "I apologize" indicates regret that there's a problem without necessarily accepting responsibility for causing it.

Men are more approving of their self image.
Women are more critical.
Men tend to boast publicly; women to boast privately, if at all. Women tell stories about their failures; men tell stories that make them look good.

Women are more specific with information.
Men generalise.
She'll tell you a dress is robin's egg or teal or aqua or periwinkle. He'll say it's blue.

Women are most comfortable talking when they feel safe and close.
Men are most comfortable talking when they need to establish and maintain status.
She tells him everything. He tells her what is important to him.

Men are more able to compartmentalise and separate issues.
Women are more likely to let feelings in one area spill over into another area.
A man can go from angry to amorous much faster and more believably than a woman. An argument or a bad day will be more difficult for a woman to set aside when getting into bed.

Women share secrets to build rapport.
Men hide secrets to maintain status.
Women see talking to outsiders about their relationships as part of friendship. Men see talking to outsiders about their relationships as disloyalty.

Men see challenge as constructive.
Women see challenge as destructive.
Women see disagreement as threatening; men do not. Women find raised voices and arguments upsetting; men see the ability to fight as a sign of intimacy, because only those who are intimately involved with each other argue.

Men react to the message.
Women interpret the meaning.
Both men and women have a tendency not to answer the question that was actually asked, but they have different justifications for doing so. Men see it as a protective measure to get to the real point of the question. Women intend it as a helpful and caring measure to get to the real point of his question.


In Conclusion...

Before anyone starts screaming, this is merely a list of Traits for the Adult Male ARCHETYPE. NO man acts 100% this way. Teen-aged boys in particular are considerably more emotional- until they learn to control it.

Consider this a basic model to build upon. What you add to that base- motives, dreams, fears, likes and dislikes- is what will make your characters unique.

Writing Erotic Horror

What is Erotic Horror?

According to Wikipedia:
Erotic horror, alternately noted as Dark Erotica, is a term applied to works of horror fiction in which sensual or sexual imagery (or descriptions of the physical act of sexual intercourse) are blended with horrific overtones or horror story elements.

In other words:

If Erotica is: They have sex and something happens.
Then Erotic Horror is: They know exactly what will happen if they have sex, and do it anyway.

Believe it or not, the basic principal is actually a left-over from the antique Victorian view of "If you have sex, something bad will happen to you." Something still promoted in today's horror flicks, especially those featuring teens.

Erotic Horror takes it one step further with:
Sex = Death, and occasionally, Death = Sex.

Most Common Plotlines:

The new girlfriend is a real monster.
Commonly foreshadowed by the fact that none of his family or friends likes her. The male protagonist then ignores all warnings to meet her in some deserted and blatantly creepy spot. They have sex and her true monstrosity is finally revealed.

This ends in one of two ways:
- He dies in her embrace.
- He kills her in self defense, and regrets it.

Far less often do you see the opposite:

The new boyfriend is a real monster.
In this style of story, the family usually approves as do her friends, while the heroine is the one with all the doubts. Eventually she gives in to family and peer pressure and goes on a date with this guy. By the end of the date, she decides he's not so bad after all. He then takes her to some deserted and blatantly creepy spot. They have sex and his true monstrosity is finally revealed.

This ends in one of two ways:
- She dies in his embrace.
- She kills him in self defense, and resents* it.

In an M/M story...

The new friend is a real monster.
None of his friends or family knows about the guy the protagonist is seeing because the protagonist is actively hiding or in denial about his attraction to this guy. The male protagonist then agrees to meet the guy in some deserted and blatantly creepy spot. The protagonist is seduced into sex and the other guy's true monstrosity is finally revealed.

This ends in one of two ways:

- He dies in his lover's embrace.
- He kills his lover in self defense, and actively tries to forget* it ever happened.

The new lover is a real monster to everyone except their lover.
In this style of story, the protagonist shacks up or marries their new love and realizes that their love is hiding some kind of secret. Meanwhile, the people around them are disappearing or dying. Completely ignoring the fact that people are dropping like flies round their love, the protagonist begins to suspect that their beloved is cheating on them. The protagonist follows their beloved and witnesses their lover seducing someone and then killing them in a particularly nasty way. Discovered, the beloved confesses their monstrosity and immediately goes all out to seduce their beloved.

This ends in one of four ways:
- The protagonist willingly dies in their beloved's embrace.
- The male protagonist kills their beloved in self defense, and regrets it.
- The female protagonist kills their beloved in self defense, and resents* it.
- The protagonist kills their beloved to save them, and then commits suicide to join them.

The new lover convinces their beloved to become a real monster.
In this style of story, the protagonist shacks up or marries their new love who then refuses to have sex with the protagonist until they prove their love by killing someone and bringing back a trophy. Sometimes it's an object, but usually it's a body part. Eventually, the protagonist realises that they have become a mass-murderer, regrets what they've become and finally begins to question their lover's sanity.

This ends in one of two ways:
- The protagonist snaps and kills their beloved in a mad sexual frenzy, then commits suicide.
- The protagonist kills their beloved lovingly and then commits suicide.

In short, Erotic Horror is when two lovers have sex and death is either the result, or the cause.

Occasionally you'll see a story where two lovers have sex and then a monster comes out of nowhere and kills one or both of them. This kind of story is not true Erotic Horror – it's ordinary Horror.

What's the difference?

In any Erotic story, the Erotic MUST turn the plot. In other words, Sex must make the story happen. If something else makes the story happen; such as the sudden appearance of a monster, then it's not an Erotic story. It's just a Monster story- a Horror story.

In order to be a true Erotic Horror, both the Sex AND Death must turn the plot.

However, a simple 'raped to death' story isn't Erotic Horror either. That's just a Snuff tale. To be an Erotic Horror, the protagonist needs to be willing, eager, and enjoying the sex in order to be Erotic with Death as the result or the cause of the Sex.

In other words, no matter how many sex scenes you toss into a Horror story, if the sex is not directly related to the horror as the cause or result, then what you have is a plain ordinary horror story with a few extra scenes.

How can you tell if you've written an Erotic Horror?

If you can cut out the Erotic scenes without hurting the main Horror plotline – you did it WRONG.
If you can cut out the Horror scenes without hurting the main Erotica plotline – you did it WRONG.
If cutting out the Horror scenes or the Erotic scenes ruins the story – you did it RIGHT.

In Conclusion...

Tossing a random sex scene into a Horror story will not give you an Erotic Horror story. All that does is make a Horror story with erotic bits. To write a true Erotic Horror, both Death and Sex must carry equal weight in the plot line. Death and Sex must both make the story happen, preferably with one the result of the other: Sex = Death or Death = Sex.

*Note: Why does the female protagonist Resent losing their lover while the male protagonist Regrets losing their lover?

Basic psychology. Males have a tendency to regret losing anything they found pleasurable, where females tend to resent having made a bad choice (in lovers). In the case of two male lovers, Denial is the normal route; "That never happened," because most men hate to admit they made a mistake. However, as the author, you are entitled to write your character's feelings any way you like. Those were merely what I found in the Erotic Horror stories I read.

HOW do you make THE END?

"When will you make an end?"
- The Pope on the painting of the Sistine Chapel

"When I'm finished."
- Michelangelo.


Okay, so you got this GREAT Idea for a story!

- This Great Idea...that births chapter after chaper...
- This Great Idea... that you can't seem to finish. (WTF?)

Crap.

So what do you do now?


HOW do you make an End?

Fairytales and Myths were my foundational reading, so they became my base model for how a story should finish- by ending where you began with a solution.

This doesn't mean ending a story in the location it started, or that full irrevocable transformations don't happen, but that the story ties the knot to the Emotional or Karmic place they began.- The lost find their way, the wicked are punished, the weak become strong, monsters are faced, emotional hang-ups are dealt with, and problems are solved. What is begun - finishes.

However...
Stories aren't just about characters Doing stuff, it's about character's Dealing with stuff and Figuring out stuff about themselves. The really good stories, the ones that grab us and stay in our memories the longest, all illustrate normal people problems and issues, and the SOLUTIONS they come across.

No matter how fantastic the setting or characters are, stories are still about people being people dealing with people stuff. It isn't what they Do, it's How they did it, and what they discovered about themselves on the way.

It sounds perfectly simple, and it can be, however I despise stories I can guess the ending to, so naturally, I refuse to write them that way. (Insert evil snicker.) I prefer to make my stories a bit more unpredictable.


The Wrong direction is the Right direction!

I prefer to write stories that throw the reader completely off the obvious path, straight through the center of the village, and force them into the deep dark woods. I deliberately make every straightforward solution unbelievably problematic!

• The obvious answer is the wrong answer.
• The simple solution is impossible to accomplish.
• What seems to be a easy task has impossible if not fatal complications.

Once the reader has been sent careening off into territory they never expected to go, and gotten utterly wrapped up in a plot they never expected- that's when I start tying up ends by way of pulling rugs out from under the reader's feet.

Characters reveal motives that change how their base characters are perceived.
• The obvious bad-guy isn't the bad guy, he's AFTER the bad-guy. However, he's completely ruthless in his hunt, which is what made him seem like the bad-guy in the first place.
• The bumbling fool that merely wants to help improve his fellow man, is in fact completely deranged sociopath that likes to do his improvements with a scalpel.
• The person the main character is trying to rescue, not only doesn't want to be rescued, but in fact resents the intrusion.

Random events and objects are revealed to have unexpected connections.
• The gun on the mantelpiece wasn't merely a decoration.
• The strange recluse neighbor turns out to be the one person who actually knows what's really going on.

What was accepted as fact is revealed to be something else entirely.
• "We're all living in a computer generated dream-world."

And in the process of dealing with all that...

• Monsters are faced.
• Emotional hang-ups are dealt with.
• Problems end up solved.
• What was begun- finishes.

The END

 

FairyTale Heroine's Journey

The Fairy Tale Heroine's Journey

There is a ton of information on the Heroic Cycle, or Hero's Journey, but what about the Heroine's? Being a female that prefers to write stories with a female lead, they'd want research into the myths and fairy tales that feature Heroines rather than heroes. What I found was a little... startling. While many things in the Hero's Journey still apply, Her journey is not quite the same as His because the path the Heroine takes through the labyrinth is guided by her Heart not her head- or her sword.

There are Thirteen stages in the Fairy Tale Heroine's Journey. Thirteen hours in her clock of adventure- one for each full moon in a year.

Fair Warning: The fairy tale examples used here are my opinionated interpretations of the oldest and Grimmest versions I know.


1. Upon a time ~ Secret Betrayal
 
Too pretty, too smart, too loyal, too friendly, too obedient, too good at housekeeping, or sewing, or spinning, or making the flowers grow- someone is always out to get the Fairy Tale Heroine. Though it's usually a jealous (aging,) female relative that betrays her, male relatives do too- by trading her skills for cold hard cash.

* Snow White, Cinderella, Psyche, and Vasilisa were so pretty they inspired jealousy in the other women they lived with.
* Beauty's father steals a flower and the cost is Beauty.
* The father of Rumpelstiltskin's maiden bragged ridiculously about her until he was finally told to prove it or die.
* The princess in the Goose Girl was too rich and too obedient for her maid to resist bullying.
* Rapunzel's mother couldn't get enough parsley.
* Bluebeard's wife, on the other hand, was out to get him.


2. The Herald ~ Bearer of Bad News
 
This is the Catalyst- a friend, family member, enemy, or object that reveals the deed, promise, or debt for which she is being held accountable, or the deadly danger she's being sent into.

* The Huntsman tells Snow White that her stepmother wants her heart, among other internal body parts-to eat.
* Cinderella's stepsisters brag that all the chores she's been given are specifically to keep her too busy to make a ball gown for herself.
* Beauty's father finally reveals that he has been asked to trade her life for his-and blames her request for a flower.
* In Rumpelstiltskin, the maiden's father sends her to the castle knowing full well that she cannot do as he bragged.
* A witch offers to buy Rapunzel for a sheaf of parsley.
* In the Goose Girl, the talking horse Falada tells the princess that her maid intends to betray them both.
* Vasilisa's stepsister brags that she won't be coming back with a live coal to light their fire because the witch Baba Yaga will eat her.
* A letter from her sister tells Bluebeard's future wife that the man killed her- and why.


3. Refusal of the Call ~ Obedience to the Call

Unlike her male counterpart the Hero, the fairy tale Heroine either doesn't want to refuse the call to adventure, or isn't allowed to. She may argue, fight, weep bitterly, or bolt outright, but someone's life or honour is usually if not always on the line-frequently her own. Ruled by her heart rather than her head, she has no choice but to answer it.

On a side note, when these stories were originally told back before the Dark Ages, women were taught from early childhood to be obedient in all things. Only men were allowed a choice.

* Cinderella knew exactly what she wanted and went right after it- a prince and escape from her step-mother's home. However, her stepmother and stepsisters didn't have any problem refusing for her by ripping up the gown she'd painstakingly sewed.
* Against her father's will, Beauty sneaks out of the house and takes off for the Beast's lair.
* Rapunzel's father refused quite a bit, but her mother was thoroughly addicted to the witch's parsley. (Makes one wonder if it was actually parsley, no?)
* The princess who became the Goose Girl couldn't do anything about her maid's bullying- royal etiquette wouldn't allow for it.
* Vasilisa considered refusing, but her magic doll advised her that going to see Baba Yaga was the right choice.
* In Bluebeard, the maiden deliberately sought him out because she wanted revenge for her sister's murder. In another version, he refused her because of her youth. She actually had to drop her clothes to prove she (had pubic hair) was old enough to marry.


4. Mentors, Tricksters & Costly Gifts

A mentor/trickster comes offering gifts. The Mentor is one who actually cares for the Heroine and wants her happy. Tricksters however, are out for themselves. They want whatever they can get out of the Heroine. If what they grant makes her happy, that's nice, but not necessary. Occasionally, a Trickster such as Baba Yaga can become a Mentor, but that normally takes a lot of pretty impressive work on the Heroine's part.

The gift could be:
* A gown, slippers, and transportation to a ball.
* The favour such as weaving straw into gold.
* The answer to a riddle that hasn't been asked yet.
* Magically long hair.
* A curse of sleep instead of death.
* A spell to call the breeze and make a dead animal's head talk.
* A family heirloom doll that talks.
* A glowing skull.
* A golden key to a deadly room.

In all cases, there is a life-altering price on such gifts. Sometimes the payment is a trinket such as a necklace or ring, but more often it's a promise to be delivered later, or a first kiss- meaning her virginity. Occasionally it's a body part such as her hands, her voice, her hair, her finger, or her firstborn child- the medieval euphemism for her virginity and continued sexual favours until pregnant. In other words, a common law marriage.


5. Enter the Labyrinth

She gives in to temptation and takes the offered gift, crossing the threshold to the labyrinth and committing herself to a path where there is no turning back.

This scene can be played out as a rescue which usually includes the demand of a reward such as a kiss- the symbol for outright seduction.

* Snow White is rescued by the Huntsman when she escapes into the forest. The price for his silence is a kiss.
* Psyche is saved from a fall off the cliffs by an invisible Eros and becomes his lover- but not his wife.
* Rumpelstiltskin's skills at spinning save his maiden from certain death on the sword of the greedy prince, but also put her continued survival firmly into his own hands.

This scene can also be played straight.

* From her mother's grave, Cinderella gains a gown, slippers, and a magical clay horse. (The earliest Cinderella is Chinese!) In another version, the gifts include a coach and come from a fairy godmother.
* Beauty walks boldly into Beast's castle to pay for her father's life with her own.
* Red Riding Hood takes the basket her mother offers and trots off into the woods toward grandmother's house.
* Lonely Rapunzel happily accepts small gifts and conversation from a prince who visits her tower.
* Accompanied by her talking nesting doll, the ever obedient Vasilisa marches off into the snowy forest to find Baba Yaga's chicken-legged hut so she can ask for a few live coals to light her hearth.

Or in Reverse.

* The princess in the Goose Girl is forced by etiquette to submit to her maid's bullying- and loses her mother's gifts.
* The vengeful younger sister arrives at Bluebeard's castle bringing gifts- her dowry, her virginity, and a pair of specially trained messenger birds.


6. Secret Allies, Secret Enemies, Deadly Gifts & Scary Promises

Entry to the labyrinth has been gained, but there's another, even more dangerous task or temptation to deal with. Another gift is offered with an even higher price-tag, a more chilling promise. She has every intention of fulfilling her bargain, but she has secret enemies.

* Snow White has survived the forest and arrived at the home of the seven dwarves. All they ask is that she be wary of strangers.
* Cinderella arrives at the ball to seduce her prince, but has promised to leave by midnight.
* Beast finally allows Beauty a visit home, but she must return by a certain day.
* Psyche survives the flight into the clouds, but has promised not to look at her new lover.
* In the third and final room of straw. Rumpelstiltskin's maiden promises her first born child- a common law marriage- to the dwarf that's helping her.
* Red Riding Hood has promised not to talk to strangers.
* Rapunzel promises not to let anyone, but the witch climb up her hair.
* The princess exchanges clothes with her maid and swears to never reveal the switch to another living thing. She becomes the Goose Girl.
* Vasilisa is told not to snoop in Baba Yaga's house or ask questions.
* Bluebeard gives his new wife a golden key on the promise that she will not open a certain door.


7. Treachery ~ Broken Vows

Through trickery, lies, theft, temptation, ignorance, or outright wilfulness, her promise is broken.

* Even after needing to be rescued from a poisoned comb and a poisoned corset, Snow White bites into an apple offered by the same stranger.
* While the clock is striking twelve, Cinderella finally notices the time.
* Beauty's sisters jealously steal her magic ring delaying her to return to the Beast.
* Psyche's lover is revealed by candle light to be beautiful beyond compare.
* Rumpelstiltskin's maiden marries the prince- instead of leaving with the dwarf.
* Red Riding Hood talks to a wolf.
* Rapunzel lets her prince climb up into her tower- more than once.
* Her horse killed for his ability to speak, the Goose Girl offers gold to the local knacker to nail Falada's head under a certain bridge. She then proceeds to speak to him daily- right in front of the goose boy.
* Bluebeard's door is opened to reveal hideous contents.

Or not.

* Despite several dangerous tasks, one of which is cleaning the interior of Baba Yaga's house- plus make dinner, Vasilisa doesn't pry or ask questions. Because her doll does all the dangerous tasks while she cooks, she sees nothing she isn't supposed to.


8. CRASH Point ~ Center of the Labyrinth

Aware that she must pay the price for her broken vow, she bravely goes forth to- find a way to dodge the consequences.

* Snow White's dwarves dodge her death by putting her in a clear crystal casket.
* Beauty has a hair-pulling fight with her sisters to get her ring back.
* Cinderella bolts for her clay horse knowing full well that it won't make it all the way home.
* Psyche throws herself at Aphrodite's feet and swears she'll do anything to get her lover Eros back.
* Rumpelstiltskin's maiden bargains for her freedom- his name. She then sends huntsmen all over the kingdom to discover the dwarf's name- before he can get her pregnant.
* Red Riding Hood eats the meat the wolf gives her, takes off her clothes, and climbs into bed with him.
* Rather than admit that she's pregnant, Rapunzel tells the witch that she ate too much.
* Before the king, the Goose Girl reveals that she is being held by a vow of silence-which makes her look even more suspicious. A peasant wouldn't bother to keep such a vow, only a princess would.
* Because of her dead sister's warning, Bluebeard's wife saves the key from being bloodied, but not her slippers.
* Vasilisa's ability to accomplish miracles and keep her mouth shut surprises Baba Yaga. Suspicious, the old woman offers to answer a question -but warns that some answers are deadly to know. Vasilisa asks about the three horsemen she saw. The answer is harmless: Black Night, Red Sun, and White Morning Star.


9. Ordeal ~ The Darkest Hour

She faces her greatest fear and death. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any actual weapons at her disposal but her wits. Back then, women weren't allowed to touch things like swords or knives. Fighting wasn't feminine.

* Snow White is locked in a coma- and a crystal casket.
* About the same time that the prince announces that he is looking for a woman that fits a certain sized slipper, Cinderella's growing waistline is noticed and she is locked in the attic.
* Beauty returns to the Beast, but he seems dead.
* To gain Aphrodite's approval, Psyche goes to the kingdom of the dead to fetch something from Persephone, the Queen of Death.
* Rumpelstiltskin's maiden goes through name after name with the dwarf trying to keep him too busy to impregnate her.
* Red Riding Hood starts questioning the wolf.
* To get around her oath to never speak of her situation to another living thing, the Goose Girl is encouraged by the king to speak to a fireplace while he waits at the chimney.
* Bluebeard's wife's runs all over the castle dodging her furious husband while waiting for her brothers to arrive.
* Knowing exactly how dangerously impossible her tasks were, a puzzled Baba Yaga asks how Vasilisa accomplished them. Knowing that one cannot lie to Baba Yaga and live, yet sworn to secrecy about her doll, Vasilisa dodges with "My mother's blessing."


10. Rewards & Punishments

If she survives the Ordeal, she is rewarded with release from the heart of the labyrinth or punished by expulsion. Either way, she is permanently marked by her experience.

* Snow White's crystal casket is discovered and carried off by a necrophiliac prince. On the journey to his home, the apple stuck in her throat is jarred loose, allowing her to awaken.
* Cinderella finally gets the chance to reveal her other slipper and her growing belly to her prince.
* Beast awakens and turns into a handsome young man.
* Aphrodite tells Psyche to "go home."
* Rumpelstiltskin's maiden finally hears back from one of her huntsmen.
* Red Riding Hood gets eaten for being too stupid to know that she's in danger.
* Rapunzel is shorn of her hair and thrown from the tower for preferring a man. Shortly afterward, the witch catches the prince, blinds him, and throws him out of the tower too.
* The king has his wife's women clean up the Goose Girl and dress her as befitting her station.
* Vasilisa's diligent work and obedience is rewarded by a kiss of protection on her brow. She is then given permission to take one of the skulls for fire, but she must not touch it, or look directly into its eyes. In another version, Baba Yaga asks a question of her own: Why go back? Vasilisa's reply: I want them to love me. Baba Yaga responds by grabbing her and dunking her into a vat of gold. Not only has her dress turned to gold, she comes out blonde and milky-skinned. Most remarkably, when she speaks, gold coins and jewels fall from her lips. She is then advised to face the crowing rooster at the gate.
* Bluebeard's wife's brothers finally arrive.


11. Release from the Labyrinth
 
She heads back to the Ordinary World with a mission to accomplish. At the last threshold, she replays her very first act of commitment, a keepsake gift, a vow, or a kiss.

* Snow White kisses her astonished (and possibly disappointed) prince.
* Cinderella leaves with her prince.
* Beast and his castle finally rejoin the mortal world.
* Psyche goes home to find Eros on the cliff where she first met him. Unable to live without him, she jumps off the cliff. He rescues her again.
* Rumpelstiltskin's maiden finally says thank you and uses his name.
* Free at last from the tower, though bald and saddled with twins, Rapunzel goes looking for her blinded prince.
* Awakened by her twins suckling for milk, Briar Rose, the Sleeping Beauty rises from her long sleep to go looking for the man that knocked her up while she was unconscious.
* The Goose Girl turned Princess once more, attends the local King's wedding feast for his son who was supposed to be her bridegroom.
* Vasilisa uses a tree branch to take one of the flaming skulls mounted on Baba Yaga's gate and goes home to face the stepmother who cast her out into the snow. In another version, she merely stops at the skull-lined gate to face the crowing rooster and is granted a star on her brow.
* At the gate where she arrived, Bluebeard's wife meets her brothers and leads them straight to the bloody chamber.


12. Confrontation & Rebirth ~ Parties & Payback

She returns to face her original betrayer. She needs them to acknowledge what they have done to her. This scene is often played out as a visit to her home in her bridal finery and a huge feast. However, this is also when the wicked are punished.

* Snow White's mother dances to death in molten iron shoes.
* Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters lose their eyes to Cinderella's friends the birds.
* Beauty invites her family to the castle to meet her new and extremely handsome husband.
* Psyche's rumour-mongering sisters are transformed into birds.
* Rumpelstiltskin rips himself in half. In another version Rumpelstiltskin literally throws himself into her body (a poorly euphemistic rape,) right in front of the whole court. He's ripped out of her and in half by her angry Prince husband.
* In the Goose Girl, the false princess is set in a barrel of nails and driven around the castle walls 'til she dies.
* Under the direct gaze of the magic skull, Vasilisa's nasty stepmother and stepsister are burned to ash. She then buries the skull to keep it from harming anyone else. In the other version, Vasilisa's stepsister is so envious of Vasilisa's golden appearance and the jewels she literally coughs up, she marches off to spend time with Baba Yaga herself, only she ends up in a vat of pitch. She comes out black-haired, dark-skinned, and spewing slugs and toads when she speaks. At the gate, when she looks away from the rooster she faces an ass and gains a donkey's tail on her brow.
* Bluebeard is hacked to pieces.


13. The Last Promise and Ever After

After all her final goodbyes are said, she returns to the Labyrinth to take her place there and receives one last gift, normally a crown or wealth, and makes one final promise. Sometimes it's merely a wedding vow, sometimes it's not.

* Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty, the Goose Girl, Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty, and Rumpelstiltskin's maiden all become queens who vow to rule wisely.
* Psyche accompanies her husband Eros to Olympus and becomes a demi-goddess who vows to stay by his side forever.
* Vasilisa's cleverness is noticed and she becomes advisor to the Tsar. She vows to always tell the truth. In another version, she merely makes her family rich enough to move into town where she ends up meeting a rich merchant's son. After yet another spiteful trick from her step-family, she marries him.
* Bluebeard's widow uses his gold to give every woman in the bloody chamber a proper burial and takes over his castle, but vows never to marry again.


So how does one use something like this for Writing?

Consider this a Plot Arc, a map of the major turning points in a story.
You can use it to plot the major turning points in any sort of heroine based adventure story, but it's far more effective as Relationship Journey for navigating Love, not life and not necessarily a purely female one.

Act One

1. Upon a time ~ Secret Betrayal
Their own body betrays them by wanting sex and love.

2. Herald ~ Bearer of Bad News
"That person Likes you!"

3. Refusal of the Call ~ Obedience to the Call
"Let's go see them!"
4. Mentors, Tricksters & Costly Gifts
First impressions

Act Two

5. Enter the Labyrinth
First personal Encounter

6. Secret Allies, Secret Enemies, Deadly Gifts & Scary Promises
The dating game.

7. Treachery ~ Broken Vows
"They haven't told you everything."

Act Three

8. CRASH Point ~ Center of the Labyrinth
Spying, Prying, and Stalking- oh my!

9. Ordeal ~ The Darkest Hour
They know that You know that They know...

10. Rewards & Punishments
To Trust and go on, or Not to trust and dump them?

Act Four

11. Release from the Labyrinth
Truth & Consequences

12. Confrontation & Rebirth ~ Parties & Payback
Showing off the new Lover (spouse); usually in front of the Old lover (spouse).

13. The Last Promise and Ever After
Marriage or...?

Simply fill in the blanks.


Wait, FOUR Acts, not Three?

Correct. The Fourth Act is the main character's resurrection from their Ordeal, their rebirth and exit from the labyrinth. Only Tragedies, like Red Riding Hood finish at the end of a Third Act because the main character (or the relationship) does not survive the Ordeal.

Classic Plotting Patterns

"I'm writing my first erotica novel, and I've set a Daily Word-count limit to improve my writing speed, but writing a whole novel takes so long. What are some other methods to break down a novel so it isn't so overwhelming?"

Besides setting daily word-count goals, another method for cutting novel-writing into bite-sized chewable pieces is to write the story scene by scene. However, this method means planning the book out from beginning to end BEFORE you start writing, also known as: PLOTTING.


Classic Plotting Patterns

1. The reversal of the protagonist's fortune is brought on by a personal flaw.
2. The eventual recognition by the protagonist of this tragic flaw
3. The resulting moral consequences of their actions.

Translated:

1. Glorious Hero does something he really shouldn't do, and everything falls apart on him.
2. Not-so-glorious Hero scrambles to fix it, and realizes that it's his own damned fault.
3. Hero crashes and burns. (He dies, she dies, everybody dies...)

Look familiar? It should. This is where the traditional Acts: One, Two, and Three, come from. However, most modern plot-lines have a Fourth Act:

4. Burned hero fixes himself and ends up fixing the problem in the process.

In a Nutshell:

1. Hero Rises.
2. Hero smacks into his own Ego.
3. Hero Crashes and Burns.
4. Hero rises again - and Kicks Butt!


The Shakespearean Plotline
From Freytag's Plotting Pyramid

In 1863, Gustav Freytag, a German playwright and critic, developed a diagrammatic outline for the Three Act Tragedy in his book "Technik des Dramas", known as Freytag's Plotting Pyramid. According to him, all of Shakespeare's tragedies have six distinct structural elements:

1. EXPOSITION: The mood and conditions existing at the beginning of the play.
2. EXCITING FORCE: The initial incident.
3. RISING ACTION: The series of events that complicate matters.
4. CLIMAX: A crucial event where the tragic hero begins his downward spiral.
5. FALLING ACTION: Advances and declines in the various forces acting upon the main character.
6. CATASTROPHE: The consequences of the hero's actions.

Freytag (Shakespeare) Translated:

1. EXPOSITION: Once upon a time there was a moderately Decent Guy...
2. EXCITING FORCE: Decent Guy runs into trouble, and pisses the wrong people off.
3. RISING ACTION: While trying to fix things, Decent Guy does things that are not-so decent.
4. CLIMAX: Everything totally falls apart on Decent Guy. He panics and does the one thing he really shouldn't do.
5. FALLING ACTION: Decent Guy suddenly realizes just how badly he messed things up and scrambles to fix it- but it's too late!
6. CATASTROPHE: With a stiff upper lip, and a really long speech, he dies, she dies, everybody dies. (Othello / Hamlet / Romeo Juliet / MacBeth...)

Alternate Shakespearian Ending!

6. HAPPY ENDING: With a stiff upper lip, and a really long speech, he's forgiven, she's forgiven, everybody's forgiven. (Midsummer Night's Dream / Much Ado About Nothing...)


The Mythic plotline:

This is the pattern that most Walt Disney movies follow and Star Wars uses.

Act One - Chosen
• Humble Beginnings
• Destiny Comes Knocking
• Shoved into Adventure
• Sagely Advice ~ Paramours & Sidekicks
• Leaving the Known World behind

Act Two - Challenge
• Challenges, Friends & Foes
• Dragon at the Crossroads
• Into the Labyrinth
• Temptation & Betrayal

Act Three - Crisis
• Anger ~ Despair ~ Sacrifice
• Inheritance / Blessing / Curse
• Treasure & Celebration
• Escape / Expelled from the Labyrinth

Act Four - Climax
• The Hunter becomes the Hunted
• Rescue & Loss of Paramour / Side-kick
• Dragon at the Crossroads to Home
• Death / Rebirth
• Delivery of Treasure & Just Rewards


The Fairy Tale Plotline

Once Upon a Time:
• An impossible Oath/Promise
• Attacked /Abandoned – Lost
• Suspicious Rescue – Cornered
• Promise is partially broken
• Dangerous Revelation
• Deception / Betrayal / Debt

Into The Wilderness
• Quest / Leaving the known world behind
• Troubles & Battles
• Saves/ Saved by -- a suspicious stranger
• A dubious Gift/Revelation (Hero's trademark)
• An Impossible Task – Refused
• Unexpected Destruction /Emotional Loss
• No choice, but Impossible Task

Evil's Lair
• Arrival at the Stronghold
• Traps & Tests
• The Villain Enraged – Dire Consequences
• Promise Kept - scarred/marked/changed
• Impossible task completed
• Greater threat revealed

Confrontation
• Daring Escape / Rescue
• Pursued & Cornered
• Climactic Confrontation
• Hero uses gift (Hero's trademark)
• Demise of Villain / Evil Land
• Celebration

Homecoming - The Unrecognized Hero
• Unfounded claims to hero's accomplishments
• Challenge & Confrontation
• Hero uses gift (Hero's trademark)
• Villain is exposed & punished
• Hero gains new rank/appearance
• Two possible futures: the Villain's wealth/position, or the Hero's heart's desire

Looks a lot like the Mythic Structure doesn't it? It should. Fairy Tales are in fact old pagan myths that were adjusted to suit cultural changes.

Interestingly enough, only the really old tales in their original forms, (not doctored to make them suitable for children,) follow the entire pattern. (The Goose Girl, Donkeyskin, East of the Sun-West of the Moon, the Grimms' Snow White, Jack & the Beanstalk, Vasalisa the Wise, Mother Holle, Wild Swans...) The modern (sanitized,) tales skip whole sections.


The Romance Plotline

1. The Lovers meet- and have Issues.
2. The Lovers' Issues drive them apart.
3. The Lovers realize that they can't live without each other. "Oh no, it's Love!"
4. The Lovers battle odds to get back to each other- fixing their Issues along the way.
5. He's forgiven, she's forgiven, everybody's forgiven... "I love you!"- and they shack up together.


The Erotica Plotline:

In Erotica the basic plot is always the same: "They NEED to have sex  and they'll do anything to have it!" However, there are many Genre Variations:

• Romantic Erotica: "I love you! Let's f*ck!"
• Glam Erotica: "One was rich, the other was famous- they f*cked."
• Mystery Erotica: "Oh my god! Someone's been f*cked!"
• Crime Erotica: "They'll never stop me from f*cking them!"
• Suspense Erotica: "Oh no! Am I going to be f*cked?"
• Humor/Satire Erotica: "You call that f*cking?"
• Sci-Fi Erotica: "They f*cked where no one has f*cked before!"
• Horror Erotica: "Oh my God! It's f*cking me!"
• Fantasy Erotica: "They f*cked- and it was Magic!"
• Paranormal Erotica: "What the hell am I f*cking?"
• Fetish Erotica: "Mmmm-mmm f*ck! Mmm-mmmm!" (Ball gag.)
• Literary Erotica: "They came together in a glorious explosion of glittering climax. The roses painted on the battered wallpaper of their silent room watched them in the approaching twilight, a reminder of how fragile pleasure is."

Honestly, an Erotica plot really IS that simple.

The easiest way to plot an Erotica Story is to decide on what you want for your climactic sex scene, then build a story and characters around it to make it VITAL for that scene to happen. You couldn't possibly write anything other than Erotica.


In Conclusion...

The fastest way to write a story is by knowing what you want to write BEFORE you start writing. Plotting is also the easiest way to keep from writing yourself into a corner or getting lost in the details.

Look at Plotting as being a map of the route you plan to take. Once you know where you are going, getting there is just a matter of staying pointed in the right direction. This doesn't mean you can't take off-roads or stop to look at the scenery, it just means that you won't get lost while taking those scenic bypasses.

Crossing Genres

Every genre has core elements that make that genre that genre. In order to Cross Genres properly, you need to know each of your genre's distinctive elements and make them Equally Important in the story.

Simple, no? However...

One of the most common mistakes I've seen in every genre of fiction: IGNORANCE.

"Most of the common mistakes come with any writing that isn't so good—bad characters, bad plots, bad writing. The ones which are peculiar to alternate histories (fantasy and sci-fi) are bad research and bad extrapolation."

How do you expect to cross genres properly if you don't even know the genres you're working with? Contrary to popular belief, even if you're writing pure Heroic Fantasy, just making it up as you go is NOT good enough!

On writing Heroic Fantasy

"The consequence of making that assumption <research is not necessary for a completely made-up world> is, inevitably, a sleazy product. It may be bought by an editor hard up for material, but it will carry none of the conviction, the illusion of reality, which helps make the work… memorable. At best, it will drop into oblivion; at worst, it will stand as an awful example. If our field becomes swamped with this kind of garbage, readers are going to go elsewhere for entertainment and there will be no more…"

Genre Ignorance

Genre ignorance is where the author writes a story in a genre they know nothing about.
Examples:

Someone writes a Historical Romance, when they've never read any Romances.
This shows up as a beautifully detailed Historical with barely a drop of real Emotional Passion. They would have been better off writing a Historical Adventure.

CLUE: It's all about the Relationship. Really.

Someone writes an Erotica story, when they've never read any real Erotica.
This shows up as a sloppily detailed journal entry written in first person POV, and present tense, with lousy grammar, and no emotional content beyond amazement. Even worse, the descriptions involve actual numbers and letters. "She was 5'6" and a DD."

CLUE: Erotica is not: "The characters had SEX." It's: "The CHARACTERS had sex."

Someone writes a Sci-Fi, when they've never read any Sci-Fi's.
This shows up as a beautifully detailed Adventure, with hardly a drop of real Science anywhere. These stories are normally labeled Futuristics, as the only Sci-Fi they have going for them is the Setting. They would have been better off writing a Western, or a High Seas adventure, a historical War story, or just about any other kind of Adventure you can think of.

CLUE: "If you can take the Science out of the Fiction and still have a viable story in another genre, you did it WRONG."

Someone writes a Gothic, when they've never read any Gothics.
This shows up as a beautifully detailed Romance, with hardly a drop of deep dark Emotional Issues anywhere. They would have been better off writing a Historical Romance.

CLUE: It's all about the Angst.

Someone writes a Mystery, when they've never read any Mysteries.
This shows up as a beautifully detailed Adventure, with a barely real criminal and hardly a drop of a real Investigation anywhere. Or worse, the readers KNOWS "whodunit" by the end of the fourth chapter because the author was foolish enough to give "whodunit", a Point of View.

HELLO~! The point of a Mystery is to keep the Reader guessing the answer to "whodunit" all the way to The End!

Why? Mystery readers read Mysteries to match their wits against the Author's. If they guess the answer too quickly, the author has done the worst thing they could possibly do to their reader – DISAPPOINT them. They would have been better off writing a Suspense adventure.

CLUE: The easiest way to keep the reader guessing is by staying in ONE POV from the beginning of the story all the way to the end.

Planning to write a Vampire Romance or Vampire Erotica?
WARNING! ~ Most hard-core vampire readers won't touch a Vampire Romance or a Paranormal Romance, or a Gothic Romance for that matter, with a 10-foot pole and they're damned choosy with their Vampire Erotica too.

Why not?
The Vampire reader is a Purist, and more often than not, Goth. To the hard-core Goth crowd, Vampires are more than mere entertainment they're an Icon, and very often, represent a personal obsession with DEATH.

To put it bluntly, these readers have read just about everything there is to read about them – fiction and non-fiction, as well as the classic Gothics. These folks have VERY intimate knowledge about anything and everything to do with vampires and Gothics, so it's blatantly obvious to them, when an author hasn't done their research on Vampires, or know what Gothics and Horrors are really about.

CLUE: To a vampire obsessed Goth, a vampire has meaning, and ANGST. They want their vampires to be VAMPIRES brooding over the nature of Life and Death, not just a hot guy with Teeth.

On the other hand, the die-hard Romance reader is perfectly happy with a romantically inclined hot guy with Teeth – but you better get the Romance right! Erotica readers are also cool with hot guys (or girls) with teeth, but they're reading to get-off, so the characters had not only better be attractive, the sex had better be explicit.

And that's just Vampires. Fantasy and Science-fiction have their share of fanatical purists too.

The easiest way to FIX the Ignorance problem?
RESEARCH!

There's no excuse for Lack of Research. If you think the readers won't notice, you are sadly mistaken. Avoid hate-mail, do your damned research, and do it BEFORE you write.

The advent of the Internet has made looking anything up a freaking breeze. Anything you could possibly want to know is up on somebody's website somewhere. Google.com is your friend, seriously. USE IT.

"What has all this to do with Crossing Genres?"
Well, before you can combine two genres, you need to KNOW the two genres you're working with because BOTH of them must be equally important in the story to BE a Cross-Genre.

The Rule of Cross Genre Fiction:
"When you Cross Genres, if you can take either genres' identifying elements out of the Fiction and still have a viable story in the genre that's left – you did it WRONG."

The Genres

(Broken down to their simplest common denominators)

Key: Issues & Values:
Human Value = Emotional Lesson such as Love, Attachment, Friendship, Family, Trust.
Mythic Value = Heroic Lesson such as Selflessness (saving others,) Leadership, Courage, Justice, Rebellion.
Karmic Value = Spiritual Lesson such as Fate, Obligation, Remorse, Salvation, Hope.

Character driven = Drama
Gothic – mysterious circumstances caused by repressed/hidden issues
Romance – intimate circumstances caused by love issues
Horror – life and death circumstances caused by despair/madness/hate issues

Premise driven = Consequence
Science Fiction – scientific elements and human values
Fantasy – fantasy elements and mythic values
Paranormal – supernatural elements and Karmic values
Erotica – sexual elements and emotional values

Setting driven = Exploration
Contemporary – set in the present-day
Historical - set in the past
Futuristic – set in the future
High Fantasy – set in the Mythic past

Plot driven = Action
Mystery – a crime and investigation quest
Suspense - a contemporary heroic quest
Adventure – a heroic quest
Sci-Fi - a futuristic heroic quest (space opera)

Okay, there you go. You now know what makes each genre tick. What's next?

Let's play: Mix and Match!

Take any genre from one of the four drives, and another genre from any of the other three drives, and put them together.

Plot driven = Action
Setting driven = Exploration
Premise driven = Consequence
Character driven = Drama

"What if I wanna use two genres from the SAME drive?"
Go ahead, be my guest, but you're going to find it a little tough to match some of them. On the other hand, the three DRAMA drives work fine paired up with any of the other DRAMA drives. Go figure.

All right, once you've picked your two genres, simply use ALL the elements of BOTH and you've got a perfect cross genre.

Example:
Premise driven = Consequence - Science Fiction: scientific elements and human values
+
Character driven = Drama - Gothic: mysterious circumstances caused by repressed/hidden issues

= The Matrix - A Gothic Sci-Fi

Let's define The Matrix:
Scientific elements = Computer Generated Reality and Villains
+
Human values = Knowledge verses Ignorance < -- Premise
+
Mysterious circumstances = Strange coincidences that couldn't possibly be Natural
+
Repressed/hidden issues = The True nature of Reality

Get it? Wanna do it again?

Premise driven = Consequence - Paranormal: supernatural elements and Karmic values
+
Character driven = Drama - Gothic: mysterious circumstances caused by repressed/hidden issues
+
Setting driven = Exploration - Contemporary: set in the present-day

= Constantine - A Paranormal Gothic

Let's define Constantine:
Supernatural elements = Demons and Angels
+
Karmic values = Actions verses Motive/Intent < -- Premise
+
Mysterious circumstances = A sudden increase in demonic activity.
+
Repressed/hidden issues = Faith
+
Set in the present-day = New York City

One more time!

Premise driven = Consequence - Romance: intimate circumstances caused by love issues
+
Premise driven = Consequence - Horror – life and death circumstances caused by despair/madness/hate issues

= Sin City - A Romantic Horror

Let's define Sin City:
Because we used Two Premise driven genres, we ADD the premises together, as well as the circumstances.

Intimate circumstances + Life and death circumstances = Sex and Murder
+
Love issues + despair/madness/hate issues = The insane lengths one will go to when in Love. < -- Premise

Got it now?

Ruling Elements

Many cross genres are ruled by one genre or the other. It doesn't have to be that way, but it frequently is. For example, Romance tends to outweigh any other genre its paired with. Why? Publishers' insistence. Romance readers outnumber all other readers ~ EXCEPT Mystery readers!

By the way, the genre Romantic Suspense was originally an attempt to grab some of the Mystery readers. (Increased Readers = Increased Profits) Unfortunately, Mystery readers tend to be Purists. They read Mysteries for the Puzzle the story represents and for no other reason. While they don't seem to mind a bit of hanky-panky in their stories, they will NOT put up with a story that they can guess in a few chapters, or a story that isn't actually focused on the Mystery to be solved.

Romantic Suspense failed at grabbing the Mystery readers completely BECAUSE their stories weren't True Mysteries. See what I mean about Genre Ignorance?

However, adding a PLOT to a Romance made the genre a hit with the Romance readers, who had gotten very, very bored with only Historicals or Contemporaries to read.

Oddly enough, this discovery of adding a fully functional plot to a Romance, plus the rise in interest in Women's Erotica via the "Black Lace" novels and the Red Sage's "Secrets" anthologies, led to the birth of another whole genre:

Erotic Romance
The big secret behind the overwhelming popularity of Erotic Romance is neither the Romance nor the Erotic elements, but the fact that there's a THIRD genre in the mix. This third genre is the PLOT that ties the Romance and the Sex together.

Which genre? Any of them, each of them, ALL of them. Erotic Romance is a genre of Cross-genres.

Romance + Erotica + Genre = Erotic Romance

Romance + Erotica + Sci-Fi = Erotic Sci-fi
Romance + Erotica + Fantasy = Erotic Fantasy
Romance + Erotica + Mystery = Erotic Suspense
Romance + Erotica + Pulp Fiction = Erotic Romance
Romance + Erotica + Horror = Erotic Horror

What made this Genre of Cross-genres so hot a sale? Contrary to popular (Publisher) belief, Romance readers are NOT purists. As long as there's a sexually-explicit Romance and a vaguely Happy Ending they'll take any genre it comes in.

At this point in time, the only deciding factor between one cross-genre of Erotic Romance and the next is the Author's Skill, seriously. A skilled Erotic Romance author can make ANY cross-genre of Erotic Romance profit.

In Conclusion...
To create a true Cross-Genre, ALL the genres involved must be equally important in the story. However, doing it wrong doesn't mean it won't get published. It just means you "missed the point" of crossing your genres.

I'm firmly of the opinion that if you're going to do something, do it RIGHT. Why? Because if you do it wrong, and someone else does it right, guess who's gonna grab all the readers?