This week's review:
On Tuesday, the blog was created. Yeah! Definitely an achievement there!
BAM! Oh yeah! That's worthy of a post by itself, I'd say.
Seriously, though, I guess we better move on to the actual post...
We began discussing the qualities of character. This is very important. The plot is driven by the characters, but to drive the characters, we need a problem to come crashing down on them. Choosing the personality and opinions of your characters will provide an excellent set of buttons you can push all the way to the end. One or more of these challenges will become addressed as the major change the character will have to go through in order to conquer the plot quest.
Remember, however, that characters are people, too, and what they think they need to do and what they believe they will need to become may be far from the truth. When the final resolution is presented, it is then that they will have to make the ultimate choice.
This testing of moral fiber needs to be where the suspense and drama all cultivate. There are other techniques I will go over in later posts about how to make whatever that is impossible to see coming, yet believable, getting the readers to say, "I should have seen that! It's so obvious now!"
I'll continue the story on Monday, but for now, here's an unrelated bit of writing, just so I can get my creativity in for the day.
Rain kept falling. With each drop, Sare felt a searing pinch. The cost was great, but it would be worth it for her family.
The winds picked up, blowing her shoulder-length, brown hair about wildly. She turned her silver eyes to look up at the sky while hundreds of flashes of pain swept across her skin.
Was this what her mother had felt that day? No. It would have been much worse.
A ray of sunlight struck where she stood just as the pain began to reach unbearable levels. The warm light didn't stop the rain, but it did comfort her with waves of radiant energy that made the pain almost dismissive.
Sare walked across the plateau tentatively, unsure of the footing. She finally reached the edge of it and closed her eyes. Adrenaline burst into her bloodstream at the thought of toppling off the side.
The pain returned full force, and she fell to her knees, grasping at the edge and gasping as the rocks gave a few inches under her hands. Her eyes opened wide and she fought back the sensation of fire that was covering her. She managed to regain her composure and looked all around for the sunlight. It had moved a few feet to the other side of the plateau.
Getting to her feet, she hurried over to the light just in time for it to begin diminishing. Trying to stay in the largest patches, she soon realized it would soon disappear. Thinking back, she recalled her mother's words. 'The sun will want to play games with you, so be quick. Gather up the treasure he spills. It will buy you time.'
Sare grabbed a handful of dust still bathed in the sun's rays, which shone gold under its brilliance. She held it tightly in her fist. She stayed in the fading patch until it was almost too small, then opened her hand slightly and shook a bit of dust out in front of her. Where it fell, a new patch of light opened up, and she dashed into it.
The original bit of light disappeared as soon as she abandoned it. She was safe now, until the light faded. As she stood in the glow, she recalled the time when she had asked her mother about the golden dust. Her mother had explained how the sun shed much of its old light at the end of every year. It felt to the mountain and changed the dust there, allowing it to retain light as long as it was covered.
The glowing earth beneath her was shrinking fast. She waited until it was almost too small again, then tossed another bit out and ran into the new sanctuary.
'New rays will eventually fall, but often where you least expect them. Don't think. Feel.'
Sare's eyes jumped about regardless of the wisdom she was recalling. She would run out of dust soon. Calming her nerves, she focused on her mother's teachings, recited to her over and over again. She closed her eyes once more and reached out with her heart toward the sun. She could feel it hiding behind the clouds, deciding where to next strike. She could also feel the dim presence of the light around her fading quickly.
On a whim, she tossed a handful far from herself, then felt the light from its dust burst into life. She opened her eyes and dashed toward the spot, but nearly tripped over her feet when she felt the sun become aware of it, too. Sare turned to see it strike a far section of the plateau. The sun had outmaneuvered her.
'Be cunning. The sun is fast. He is also proud.'
Sare smiled and ran to the patch the last rays had touched. She leaped for a handful of golden dust before it faded back to brown, and scattered a bit around her. She sat in the center and felt out to the sun again. She could almost feel the sun's mocking laughter. She wondered how she could use the sun's pride against it.
She didn't have long to wonder before the rain began to burn her again. Hopping to her feet, she dashed out and ran from the spot where she had been. Using all her strength, she threw half of her gold dust a long way out. It settled and began to glow. Sensing the sun's awareness of it, she ran back the other direction, hoping desperately that she was right.
Just as she reached the spot where the sun had last cast its power, new rays enveloped her. This time she was laughing. She could feel the scorn from the sun and its frustration.
Sare gathered up as much of the gold dust as she could, making a pouch out of the bottom of her shirt, and held it tightly concealed.
The game went on for an hour more and Sare was beginning to see a pattern. The sun avoided patches of rocks, preferring areas covered in dust. The sun was getting harder to predict now, almost seeming to choose randomly where it would strike.
Sare realized that the storm would be coming to an end soon. This was wonderful news to her, but a terrible fear gripped her heart as well. The storm always grew darker toward the end. If she didn't prepare sufficiently, she would go minutes at a time without any light. She knew she could not survive that long without it. With what time remained before the darker clouds arrived, she focused on a plan.
Every time the sun appeared near the edge of rocks, Sare would kick as much dust out of the way and toward the center of the plateau. Every time it fell in the middle, she would deposit a shirt full of dust she had gathered from the edges. The minutes wore on and soon, the stretch of dust grew smaller and smaller, and the light landed closer to the center each time.
Sare could feel the sun's anger as it began to see her plan. She smiled, even when dashing out to gather extra dust in the dark regions. Her fortress of sunlight was almost finished.
Just as her latest patch of gold died away, the sun broke through the clouds and barraged the entire pile of dust with an enormous burst of light. Sare's jaw dropped. It wasn't supposed to do that yet. The storm hadn't gained its full strength. Scrambling furiously, she began to cover the gold patch with layers of brown dust. She only managed to cover a third of it by the time the rays faded completely.
The rain beat down on her, turning the dust into mud. Without the light, it would dry up instantly, but now, the dark layer thickened. When she could no longer stand the pain, she kicked a portion of mud away and golden light sprang forth from the ground, more powerful than normal.
Sare continued the process again and again, but when the sun finally came, several minutes later, it enveloped the entire area, drying up all of the mud covering her reserves back into glowing dust. As the sun rays faded, they scattered about all across the dust, undoing any work she had done to stockpile it. Everywhere the mud was turned back into gold dust, light shone briefly, then died.
Refusing to give in to her fears, Sare gathered all of the dust up into one large pile, pushing off parts of mud here and there, just enough to keep the rain at a bearable level. Soon, she had it all gathered together, and she tore her sleeve off, held one end to her face and the other at the surface of the pile as she buried herself in it so she could breath.
The sections of dust that still shone soon died and her wet form continued to burn where it had not touched that light-infused dust. She bore with the pain almost to the point of losing consciousness, but was saved when the sun's full power was forced once again down on the dust, making it all dry.
She could sense the sun's confusion, and relief flooded her. She had finally outsmarted the sun. If she lay like this, surely she would be safe until the storm subsided. The sun seemed to scan all about to find her, but could not penetrate the shadows where it did not shine. As it died away, she felt it laugh once, smugly.
'Do not ever think you have won until it is over and you are home. The sun has had many seasons to outwit each of us eventually.'
The words nagged at her, but she refused to give up on her last hope. Sare lay there until the sun returned several times. Its comforting glow warmed her each time, yet she was feeling an odd emotion from it now. It was waiting eagerly.
Sare was confused. What hadn't she seen? What could the sun do, but land where it must. She had won, surely.
'Don't ever think you have won...'
The powerful gust slammed into the pile of dirt, throwing most of it upwards. Her sleeve was carried away with it and she stared in horror as the dust blew away and off the edge of the plateau.
Panicking, Sare rolled to her feet and gathered as much golden dust as she could into a small pile, then realized the pointlessness of it. Her victory had spelled her defeat. The storm had killed her mother and it would now kill her on her first trial, before she even had a child to carry on the rites.
Drenching rain poured down on her in large splashes whenever a powerful gust pummeled into her. The agony of it searing her skin was too much and she went in and out of consciousness while still on her feet. A sense of doom overtook her and she desperately reached out to feel where the sun would shine, but only felt its malicious rejoicing.
Desperate for help, her thoughts were turned to her mother's advice again. 'In the worst of the storm, you will find the most danger and the most safety.'
She couldn't imagine what that could mean, but in between buffetings, it became obvious. The rain was not constant. there were long moments where the winds divided it up and in those moments, she could avoid it. In her drenched state, however, she would still succumb to the pain. She needed light.
Stumbling about, taking hits from the wind and rain, she forced herself on by pure focus and willpower. It was killing her, but she wouldn't give in until it finished her. She noticed a section out in the rockiest part of the plateau where taller rocks stood. She had never ventured there, for the sun never went there. She ran to those rocks and was partly relieved to find that the winds could barely enter between them, and the rain even less as it was driven sideways more than downward.
It still wasn't enough. The burning sensation on her soaked body was becoming too much. She was losing focus. It was then Sare realized she was still grasping two small handfuls of gold dust. Without any hesitation, she cast down both handfuls and stood in the glorious warmth that dried her completely.
The light was fading fast, but she quickly regained her senses. She laughed despite herself. She had found safety, but what about when the storm died down and the rain became more constant. It would finish her. She was sure of it.
Looking out over the edge of the plateau, she recognized the plains where her people would be waiting, watching for the storm to die and hoping to see her returning from the mountain. The new year's crops would never have a chance in the wasteland if she did not bring back the sun. It was the only thing keeping any plants alive for thousands of miles, other than poisonous weeds that seemed to thrive in shadow. If she did not succeed, her people would starve.
It was then, just before the last of the gold dust faded away that it came to her. She could still save them. Snatching up the pinch of gold dust remaining, Sare dashed out of her cover and ran for the edge of the plateau.
Reaching the edge at full speed, she leaped-
-out into nothing. The air whipped around her body as she plummeted. The sides of the cliffs blurred past her. Her head spun as she fell, but she forced her head up and twisted her body to watch the plateau. She could see the sun pierce down to the edge where she had been. She felt its disappointment. It would not see her die on the mountain today.
As she fell, Sare closed her eyes and remembered her mother's embrace that night when she left for the last time. She remembered crying like she always did when her mother went to the mountain.
Her mother's last words echoed in her thoughts, "Never be afraid, child. Even in the darkest of storms, know that the sun only struggles against what he fears. He fears mankind for forcing him to come down to the earth every year, taking him from his lofty realm."
She had seen her mother return glowing with the sun's radiance after the storm subsided each year. She had not been able to endure, but she didn't care anymore. Soon, it would no longer matter.
Giving in to her defiance at last, Sare looked toward the ground as it flew up to meet her. The ground was brown everywhere. Empty of life. Just before she reached it, she flung her handful of golden dust toward it. In the moment before she collided, the ground burst into golden light, spreading out for miles and miles in an instant.
In the split second that remained, she hoped her people would realize the opportun-
Torin helped his father and sister gather up jarfuls of the golden dust and cover them with earthen lids. His brother took the full containers from each of them and bound them shut with cloth wrappings. It was a miracle. There would be sun for years, and the best thing was, if the stories were true, on the rare moments when the sun showed its face, its broad rays would reach the dust lands and make more gold dust for them to gather.
Torin thought aloud, "How did Sare do it?"
His younger sister replied, "I don't know, but look!"
They all gazed up to where she pointed. A golden sun peeked behind the storm above the mountain, but rising before it, a silvery sun appeared, glowing down upon them. It hovered for a moment, then shot into the sky and disappeared.
"Another sun?" Torin wondered.
"Huh." Torin's father said. "A new sun going to find a world of its own."
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