Way back when, people doing WriteOn! challenges were offered the option to use a couple of stock characters just for the purpose, rather than using the ones from their own Work In Progress, or making others up on the fly. It saves time, for some. Sometimes the challenge just doesn’t make sense in the context of our WIP. When it does, we can get a useful scene out of it [be sure to copypaste any such scenes to a file on your computer the same day, because it will be hell to find them later, ask me how I know]
So we got the Callow Youth and Stout Companion (Cal and Stout) on their endless quest for the Lost Jewel of Togwogmagog. Deliberately endless, so we can just keep using them. The ages, genders, and even species of these two archetypes are entirely up to us, and need not even remain self-consistent from week to week. Many of us have pairs that have developed over the months or years we have been using them. Mettle has three different pairs, or it might be four. [I started with both male, then switched Stout to female; Cal got his full name when we were challenged to write a quarrel, then Stout got hers to match and their patronymics go a ways to explain why Stout is in fact the stronger character. They have acquired families, culture, and so on.]
Our own characters from these templates are personal property; we don’t share them, only the template. Anyone can write about Cal and Stout, but only I write about Callahan Chandlersson and Aristout Smithsdaughter. Only Tara has her delightfully wacky world of the Seven Solicitresses and Prince Kornsirrup who is a frog. Jasper and Hitch (a troll) belong to cfk, whose Jewel is a dragon's eye. And so on.
The quest got a batch of props, minor characters, and locations to go along with it. The Magical Purple Onion of Othmar (which is a Maguffin, powers never defined), the Duffle Bag of Least Resistance (I suspect this is a Bag of Holding as defined in Harry Potter), the ever unreliable (and always offstage) wizard Froop, the Dread Least Grebe whoever/whatever that is, Discussion on the Grebe maybe a Nemesis; inns like the Startled Duck and the Stricken Chicken, the Swamp, the Tower of Doom on the Isthmus of Onionset; even a whole new species: the transom alligator. That last was part of a discussion of bad ways of getting out of a writing corner. Apparently some hack writer actually had the antagonist put an alligator over the transom into a locked room with the protags. I leave you to imagine the logistics here…. But they have become a great source of fun as a sentient species. Tara's have been known to show up as court bailiffs. ;-)
mettle fatigue:
I made the assumption that a transom alligator is what devours manuscripts tossed over the publisher’s transom into the slush pile, and promptly savages the writer who tossed it, as well.
strawbale:
Cal rummaged in his pack.
“Our next Maguffin is in Lord Hest’s storeroom. Froop says he keeps two transom alligators for guards, so I came prepared.”
“You come prepared for the darndest things these days, Cal.”
“Here, you take this one. It’s better than not prepared at all like the old days, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes… what’s this?” Stout examined the neatly tied package of …paper?
“A manuscript, of course. Hand lettered, hand illustrated. Took me ages. See that apple tree nearest the gate? Easy climb. Toss these over the transom, and up the tree, OK?”
“Is that why your eyes were red last night? All the lettering and stuff?”
“No, that was the onion. Shhhh! Ready, set, throw! Climb, quick!”
The packages sailed over the transom. Stout shivered at the snarls and ripping sounds that followed. But,…was that a “yum?”
The gate opened and two alligators slithered out, licking their chops and searching the causeway and road for the intruders. After a few minutes, they started to slow down. They curled up beside the road, unmoving.
Cal looked pleased. “I added a little something to the paint for the illos.”
Stout stared at the reptiles. “Onion poisons transom alligators?”
Cal gave him a strange look. “No, datura puts them to sleep. There’s no need to kill everything. The onion was to make me cry. Writers’ tears are like catnip to transom alligators, they can’t resist. Come on!”
ANY AND ALL OF THESE are endlessly malleable to suit the need. Any setting, any quest. Reppa mentioned that her Lost Jewel was a spaceship! Nothing is essential but writing.
And that’s all great — for heroic fiction. Not every challenge really suits that mold, and some of us don’t care to write in it, though many a pixel has been expended on discussions of the Hero’s Journey as a story arc. Other genres have quite different expectations for writers and readers.
Between SenSho and ourselves, we created more stock characters in more genres. [these all have somewhat silly, functional names to distinguish them from anything someone would actually write for publication. If a challenge gives you an idea for a saleable story, file off all the serial numbers!] Mind you, any of these can be treated seriously or as spoof.
So in addition to quest fiction, we have:
* Fantasy — Jocasta Entwhistle, ace dragon breeder of Wiltshire Dragon Farm, and her possibly suspicious new client.
*Early Americana — Goodwife Thankful Goodheart and the vicious gossip Agnes Addlepate.
*Historical Romance — Belinda and her crush Lord Postlethwaite-Praxleigh (pronounced “puppy”) and her rival Adelaide.
*Historical (or could be current) Warfare — intrepid mercenary soldier Wallace Higginbotham.
*Mystery/Police/Noir — Private Investigator Celia Spunk, on the track of the Chainsmoke Killer
OR incorruptible police detective Scotty Blaine and the local mob boss.
Hmmm. Swirling those two around each other might be fun, too.
*Spy Thriller or farce — Superspy James Buns, his unfortunately-named girlfriend, and a megalomaniacal villain.
And recently I came up with a couple more current popular genres
*Corporate/legal/office drama or comedy — Goodson Lecoeur, a wage-earner with a passion for doing the right thing, and Cyril Bribbage, his fussy middle manager (who can be ally or antag as needed).
*Urban fantasy or supernatural romance — Athena Moonbright, modern witch. Feel free to supply her with a coven, familiars, friends, a love interest… or not.
*Sci-fi — Lan Starhom, captain of the Comet. A ship, a crew, a mission or a disaster... or maybe this is a sailing ship in a post-industrial future?
So, tonight’s game is to pick one of these genres, perhaps one you wouldn’t normally write, and play with the characters. Write a quarrel, a revelation, an unexpected meeting…
Try for a limit of 300 words, but who cares, right?
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