The Blog of Roon

Stupid characters. Always going in directions you don’t want them to. Drat ‘em.

I was having problems with the Clara and Renate story. It had some good bits, but they weren’t coming together, and the theme I’d intended was getting lost in the shuffle.

Until I realized that the theme I’d intended had become part of a slightly larger theme that snuck in under the radar. And the larger theme made me distinctly uncomfortable.

I’d thought that Clara’s problem in this story was coming to terms with a daughter who hadn’t turned out the way she wished. Well, yes, that’s true still—but her real problem is coming to terms with the politics (dirty and not), violence, and upheaval that her daughter’s work brings forcibly to her attention.

She would rather block it out, of course. So would I, if you’ll forgive me the brief return to the real world. Damn characters. They’ll do this every time. How does she, how do I, justify a soldier’s sacrifice, justify standing by, whether or not I believe in the cause for which the sacrifice is given? What do we do, Clara and I, standing on the sidelines?

Well, I found a few answers to that. I gave Renate the one I think suits the story best: it is Clara’s job, and mine, to be worth the sacrifice. I know Clara can manage that. Not so sure about me, but at least I can take that into my head as an explicit goal now.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 20th, 2004 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Dragonhunt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.