NaNoWriMo Blogging Four

Yes, I haven’t gotten much of anything done on my novel done lately. I’ve hit yet another snag in the many tangled webs I woven from the invisible threads. Also, kinda ran into a problem with my plot development. In case you haven’t forgotten yet, I’m one of those writers who writes all over the place and tries to hook everything up rather than starting and the beginning and working my way forward. Can be a bit of a pain when I know something has to happen and I can’t figure out how to do so. And, well, that’s where I’m at right now. In order to block out the rest of things that I have floating in my head I need to figure out a way of getting something to happen between these two characters (Once again, I caution that all names, dates, and faces are subject to change at my whimsy as I am horrible with names, in case you couldn’t tell.):

Heidi
Tag: Heidi Ho
Name: Heidi Torkleson
Class: Monk~Adept
Age: 17~18
Type: Grrl gamer
Notes: Direct, simple, and to the point. Brutally honest. Somewhat unsure of herself and shy at times. Plain, “girl next door” type. Has a tendency to slip into internet slang and/or leet speak. But tries to sound a bit more intelligent around the smart people she’s surrounded herself with as she’s certainly no dummy just a lot more instinctual and emotionally driven than most. One of the best healers in the test, especially after she learns how to play the game. Very competitive and always up for another game. A real “gamer”.
Explanation: Now, most closed tests have strict age restrictions for closed testing for legal reasons – adults only, please. But I really want Heidi to be high school aged for any number of reasons so I’m hoping I can fudge that a bit. Her boyfriend, Land, is a distant relative of one of the developers and got into the test through a backdoor so I figure that she can slip through the same hole. I might decide that’s not the way to go in which case she’s a high school senior who’s 18 at the start of the story. Really, the first part of the book is her story as she gets into the test – allowing me a quick and dirty way of explaining the rules of my fake video game, testing, and the other main characters – and comes to realize that she’s not actually that bad at playing video games. As things go on she becomes very competitive and more and more self-assured. As one of the few girls playing – and it’s just a sad fact that in gaming circles you’ve mostly got a lot more guys playing than girls, at least in high level PvP – she attracts a lot of attention and, well, she likes that, probably more than she would admit (similar to a “fag hag” just with more sexual tension?). She’s a bit of a flirt, too, especially once she gains some confidence and the story shifts away from her.

Lady
Tag: Lady Elisabeth Moonglow
Name: Gertrude Morgans
Class: Mentalist
Age: 24
Type: Roleplayer
Notes: An elder statesman of the game, a common presence on any number of message boards where her maturity and generosity are well known. She’s older, wiser, and calmer than most anyone else. A well-spoken and self-assured woman. She started out a PvEer but discovered the joys of PvP in the test. Loves to roleplay but finds herself drawn into the competitive scene where most people just aren’t interested. There, her knack for exploring and coming up with different combinations and techniques – honed on many raids and dungeons – and refusing to settle for “good enough” really blossoms. Her calm, reasoned demeanor masks a real competitive and vindictive streak. It pops up whenever she’s ignored or slighted in some way. At one point, hands down the best Mentalist around and always one of the most innovative.
Explanation: Tending towards the older side of the gaming clan, Lady’s the member of the group with the least binding her to the others. She and the clan leader had a relationship once but it’s been over for a while – since she left school to work - even though they’ve remained friends since. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy the rest of the group, far from it, she just has a lot of other things pulling at her time and attention and doesn’t have much in common with the other members of the clan. She’s the only one with a real job – the rest are all in school. She’s the only one who’s an avid roleplayer – with a whole ‘nother network of friends and support to participate in things with. What she does share is a desire to win, to be the best, and to challenge herself against the best to prove herself. She’s really the closest thing to a pure antagonist in the group, existing solely to turn against them later on and throw things into chaos, simply because she’s found greener pastures – not really because she’s out to hurt anyone. I find her contradictions are what make her interesting.

I have to get those two to intensely dislike each other by the end of the first act, so to speak. The not-so-friendly rivalry between the two and the bitter snarking and backstabbing that goes on is a major source of conflict and tension throughout the rest of the planned book. But, well, I have trouble writing people as being believably mean. So I generally resort to a misunderstanding of some kind. A wrong word here, a hurt feeling there, and these two should be at each other’s throats, so to speak, for the rest of the way. Just what it is that sets Lady off – and, yeah, I’ve settled on it being Lady who gets pissed first because she’s the one with the shortest temper – is something that’s escaping me at the moment. I’d been planning on establishing and using her “Rper who likes to PvP” status as a wedge. Have Heidi poke her in a tender spot by insulting table top gaming or something that would get Lady defensive and then resentful. But, I’m having trouble doing so without feeling like I’ve forced that particular plot point instead of having it develop naturally. And, of course, just where it should happen in those first few days that the two know each other. I want it in the text – at least the start – as I don’t want to shove it off stage (My other fallback at the moment. Don’t show the two arguing, have other characters react to them arguing. It’s just I’m going to pull that trick out of the bag later on and I’d rather not overuse it.). As always, my problem is figuring out just which fork in the road I want the story to travel. Eh, I’m probably over-thinking it as usual.