The two-protag dynamic

[clarentine]

A friend once observed, while critiquing one of my novels, that I appeared to be using one of the pair of main characters as a whipping boy. Bad stuff always fell worse on the one character, not the other, though the other is the one who instigated the situation. The other, in fact, often was being forced to watch as a punishment; the bad guys explicitly damaged the one to hurt the other. Which called into question why the whipping boy was there at all - what was their purpose, aside from soaking up punishment I subconsciously did not want to inflict on my chosen character? A very good question.

(An excellent critique overall, and a good friend for being willing to pull no punches. I needed to hear that.)

In revising the current novel, Switchback, it occurs to me that I'm still exploring the dynamic between two main characters, one of which inevitably becomes my favorite by the end of the first draft. I'll probably always be re-learning the lesson of that earlier critique, I'm afraid - I've done it again here, trapping the secondary protagonist and leaving the primary character to dig him out - but I am at least aware of what I've set up (and why robbing that character of agency is not a good thing for either character or story).

So here I am, on rewrite, considering that secondary protag. I can't do the obvious thing and combine the two characters, not in this story; it needs to remain a story about two brothers. What I can do, though, is build in goals for that secondary character. What is being trapped doing to him and his goals?

What I can't do is consider the scene solely from the standpoint of how it affects my primary character.

I'm going to go make some pound cake and think on that.

Comments

[docdad2.livejournal.com]

I have noticed that I can tag scenes with the portage. I also created a tag for Protag AND. . . I color coded the folder and then looked at the Scrivener notebook to see if there was a predominant color. You might consider a scene tag for Protag 1 gets hurt, Protag 2 gets hurt or any combination that may visually show you balance on who is getting slugged and who is learning etc.
Good luck with the untangling.
D

[clarentine]

Oh, color-coding at the "big picture" level - good idea! I use it at the dayjob; why not on this, too?

I suppose that, since Scrivener's test version is free, I could try it and see how the swapping back and forth to Word goes. I don't use much in the way of formatting, but I would want to know what I had would remain consistent.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

To what conclusion have your thoughts led you?

And is there any pound cake left? :P

[clarentine]

At the moment, I've concluded that I need more brain cells, and probably an Excel spreadsheet. ;-) I've managed to train myself to consider the needs of the antagonist in my novels - it is their story, too, after all. This particular dynamic is going to be a challenge, for some reasons that would be spoilery, but I think I'll just have to look at it like I did the antag agency issue. It's not like I don't already know I have more passes through this thing after the current rewrite is done!

[clarentine]

Re pound cake: I knew the recipe sounded too simple. I'd been wanting to find a pound cake on which I could use up a surfeit of apple butter, however, so was willing to try it out, but this is not the recipe I was looking for. So the extra loaf has come to work with me, where it will be consumed with gusto by people with less demanding expectations!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Ah, better off with others, then, since I've been accused--on more than one occasion--of being a foodsnob. ;)

[clarentine]

I'm certainly developing a disdain for less thoughtfully-produced foodstuff. The one thing I have become really snobbish about, I have to say, is chocolate. Don't offer me a Hershey bar; I can't stand that plasticky "chocolate" anymore. I delight in finding new brands of chocolate and giving them a whirl!

On the other hand, I love to try out new recipes, and to get thoughtful tasters' serious critiques of the results. It's perfectly valid to say "I didn't like it," but so much more useful to tell me "I think there was too much salt." Do you read the Serious Eats blog? If not, allow me to recommend it - it's the next generation of foodie science after Alton Brown's Good Eats show. http://www.seriouseats.com/

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I totally get you on chocolate (sweets in general, really). I would rather do without than eat something just because it has a smidgen of chocolate in it. I want 70% cacao minimum and prefer 90%. :P

Serious Eats sounds familiar. I don't read it, but I think I've come across it. Will check it out.

[clarentine]

My preference seems to be between 50 and 60%, where you get the bitters but still have some flex to the bars. Best of both worlds. ;-)