Writing the Paranormal Novel: Techniques and Exercises for Weaving Supernatural Elements Into Your Story.

by Harper, Steven

  This character creates a major advantage for the writer because he has a built-in reason for exposition — everything has to be explained to him eventually. Gina, the fashionista vampire from Vamped by Lucienne Diver, is a Newbie who learns quickly. C. Thomas Flood, the San Francisco vampire from Christopher Moore's You Suck, is a Newbie who learns more slowly.

  THE SUPER

  The Super is born with or granted great powers, and must learn to use them in order to accomplish some important task (like save the world). Often the whole deal comes with a time limit and an advisor who can provide a bit of training. A good chunk of the book is dedicated to the hero discovering how these powers work, but before the hero has quite mastered them, she has to face the crisis. A good part of the conflict comes from the hero's struggle to master the new powers in time and being forced into a fight too early. This character type is oft en combined with others, like the Reluctant or the Newbie.

  Supers are enormous fun to read and write about — who hasn't fantasized about having superpowers? There's some danger in the Super, however: The more powerful the character becomes, the more difficult it is to challenge her.

  Almost all vampire and werewolf protagonists are Supers. So is Harry Potter, along with Percy Jackson from The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

  THE EXPERIENCED ONE

  Here we have the opposite of the Newbie, someone who knows quite a lot about the supernatural world already by the time the book opens. The character is oft en powerful and may be a Super, or simply have a great many supernatural contacts. A great advantage of the Experienced One is, like the Hunter/Warrior, the author doesn't have to work terribly hard to get such a character involved in a paranormal storyline.

  Abraham Van Helsing is a prime example of an Experienced One. So is Anita Blake.

  THE ANTAGONISTS

  Not every paranormal book needs an antagonist. Most of Edward Eager's books do quite well without one. E. Nesbit's books do the same. This can actually throw some readers, who are expecting a fight between opposing forces, but as long as you have something for the protagonist to struggle against, the readers will adapt. Usually this conflict will be something that arises from a situation: character vs. nature or character vs. society. The character might have to work out how to use magic, survive in a hostile environment, or dodge a group instead of a person. Nesbit's and Eager's children, for example, try to work out the rules of magic during their adventures, and the mistakes they make cause them problems. They also have to hide their magic from the adults in their lives. Naomi Novik's dragon Temeraire deals with antagonists, but his primary conflict is a societal one — he wants equal rights for dragons in England, a country that essentially enslaves them.

  However, most books call for an antagonist — the more deliciously horrible, the better — and she should be as carefully craft ed as the protagonist.

  We need to be clear here — an antagonist is not a villain. Antagonists may be evil, cruel, sadistic, selfish, or worse, but a true antagonist is never a villain. A villain is a two-dimensional character who exists only to give the protagonist someone to fight; an antagonist is a fully realized, welldeveloped character whose goals happen to conflict with the protagonist's. In other words, the protagonist and antagonist can't both have what they want, but we want the protagonist to win.

  You need to figure out the goals for your antagonist just like you do for your protagonist. Remember those two character questions? Go back and answer them for your bad guy. If you can't, you have a mere villain, and that's bad for your book.

  Also remember that even the worst people in the world never see themselves as evil. They're just … misunderstood. Perhaps they're trying to bring some good or order into a world that doesn't appreciate them, or they're ahead of their time, or people are just too foolish, too stupid to understand the genius of their accomplishments. Or they don't see themselves as bound by the idiotic rules of a society they didn't create and therefore don't need to obey. But evil? Certainly not. Your antagonist should have a similar view.

  Supernatural antagonists have their own archetypes.

  THE DESTROYER

  The Destroyer seeks destruction on an enormous scale. It might be a town or city, or it might be the entire world. The actual mechanism can vary. The old-fashioned explosive disaster is one way, but other Destroyers intend to release something dreadful, such as a horde of monsters, or a dark god, or a horrible plague. Some Destroyers don't realize their plan will wipe out the world and proceed in merry ignorance. The protagonist has to stop him — or convince him to stop — before said destruction is unleashed.

  This antagonist brings a serious pile of chips to the table, which can make for some powerful conflict: If the protagonist fails, millions will die. The disadvantage to the Destroyer comes if you want to write multiple books. Can you thrill the reader in Book II if you've threatened to wipe out the entire world in Book I? (Actually, you can. See chapter seven.) The Morrigan from Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job is an example of a Destroyer.

  THE MISGUIDED ONE

  The world needs guidance. It needs a firm hand. Above all, it needs order. And there's just one person who can provide it.

  The Misguided One knows the world would become a better place if everyone would just do as she says. In fact, she's doing everyone a favor by taking over. Doesn't anyone understand the sacrifices she's making? How difficult it is to rule? Or how wonderful the world will become once we get past this difficult early stage? Any and all ends justify the means here, since they're all for the greater good. And the trains will run on time, too.

  In the right hands, this antagonist becomes truly scary. After all, she's fully convinced she's the good gal — and there might be some truth to what she believes. Lilith from Terry Pratchett's Witches Abroad is a perfect example of this antagonist.

  THE OPPOSITE

  The Chosen One has a mirror image, someone the dark forces chose as their champion. He'll have special powers and abilities just as the Chosen One does, and likely will go one or two better — the forces of evil almost always have the upper hand at the beginning, otherwise the heroes would have too easy a time of it. Often the origins of the Opposite and the Chosen One are intertwined, and the two are fated to meet.

  This archetype is fun to play with because it's always interesting to hold a mirror up and ask, “What would the opposite be like?” The conflict is built right in. On the downside, the Opposite falls easy prey to cliché. If you go this route, be careful that you're not just creating two empty suits of superpowered armor to pound on each other. Develop the character fully to avoid this, as we've discussed above. Randall Flagg provides an Opposite to Mother Abigail in Stephen King's The Stand.

  THE JILTED ONE

  This antagonist has a personal vendetta against the protagonist and is using supernatural means to get revenge. Although she may need to acquire wealth or power along the way, they mean nothing — revenge against this single person remains the driving force in the Jilted One's life. It might be over a love affair, sure, but it might also have something to do with another kind of loss that she blames the protagonist for — the death of a loved one, loss of personal status, not being allowed to join the Circle of Sorcery because the protagonist got the last open slot, whatever. Oft en this character's motivation is hidden at first. She seems to want something else, something that draws the protagonist close enough for her to reveal her true motivation.

  Unlike many other antagonists, the Jilted One may not necessarily want to kill the protagonist. She may settle for humiliation or the loss of the protagonist's powers or even the death of someone close to the protagonist. In some ways, this makes her even more dangerous. Looking all the way back to Greek mythology, we can find the Jilted One in King Menelaus, who declared a decade-long war on Troy solely to pry his beautiful wife from the arms of that idiot Paris.

  THE ONE-UPPER

  The One-Upper wants more — more power, more money, more toys. Enough is never enoug
h. Each conquest is nothing more than a stepping-stone to the next one. The One-Upper oft en controls vast resources or magical power, which gives him a tremendous advantage when it comes to persuading people to work for him, or corrupting them into it.

  This character is tricky to write. One-Uppers exist all over the place in the real world — any number of politicians and businesspeople fit the mold — but in fiction it's easy to let them fall into caricature. Be sure you know why your One-Upper is so obsessed with having more. (Actually, you should know why any antagonist wants anything, but it's especially true in this case.) Perhaps he's actually insecure and afraid of losing everything because of certain events in his upbringing. Or perhaps his mother was a relentless perfectionist who never let anything he did be good enough. Count Magpyr from Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum is one example of a One-Upper, and so is the White Witch from C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

  THE LUNATIC

  The Lunatic has gone cuckoo bananas. Perhaps she was born, or perhaps she was made. In any case, she doesn't respond to pain or fear or love the way normal humans do, and her goals seem to make no sense. As a result, the heroes never know what she'll do next. Yet, in the end, every move she makes turns out to have a careful reason.

  This is a difficult antagonist to handle well, and it requires a fair amount of research. You can't really throw a bunch of random, nasty behavior together and get a workable Lunatic antagonist — many of your readers know too much about psychology and mental health, and they'll call you on it. Instead, you'll need to find a psychological diagnosis, learn how people with that particular affliction think, and work that into the character. You can take some literary license. In fact, you'll have to — very few truly insane people would be functional enough to give a supernatural protagonist much trouble.

  Also remember that while the Lunatic's actions might look loopy to everyone else, they make complete sense to her. This means you, the author, need to know why she's scared of butter, why she won't use the Internet on Sundays, and why she's obsessed with making zombie black cats.

  A subset of this antagonist is the Raving Lunatic, the one who's gone completely round the bend. Werewolves do this every month, and some vampires do it if they get hungry enough.

  Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley's famous novel arguably fits this type of antagonist. Jack Torrance from Stephen King's The Shining starts out as a Regular Joe protagonist and ends as a Lunatic antagonist.

  THE SELFISH ONE

  The Selfish One has some kind of personal problem and will do anything to solve it. Nothing and nobody else matters. If people have to die, so be it. If he has to ruin lives, that's fine, too. Many vampire antagonists fall into this category — the juicy need to feed rules all, and they don't care who gets hurt in the process. Some Selfish antagonists are seeking something in particular — immortality, a long-lost love, a cure — and woe to anyone who stands in their way. Or perhaps the protagonist holds the key to what the Selfish One wants, which automatically draws the two together.

  The fun of writing a Selfish antagonist is that he starts off as eminently believable. We're all born with a certain amount of selfishness. Crank it up a little, add some magic, and you have a delicious supernatural opponent. Count Dracula is, of course, the preeminent Selfish antagonist, and Fay Harper from Mercedes Lackey's Jinx High was built from the same mold.

  THE BETRAYER

  She's your friend, fighting by your side to destroy the Destroyer, one-up the One-Upper, and show the Misguided One the error of her ways. Just when everything looks its worst, you discover that she's been feeding information to the enemy all along. Then she guts you from behind.

  The Betrayer comes in several flavors. One kind lies from the outset, making friends with the hero for the sole purpose of waiting for the perfect moment to insert that knife. Another kind truly starts off as a friend but becomes secretly corrupted by the antagonist, who hands her the knife with a wink and a grin. A third type doesn't want to play Judas but is forced into it because the antagonist has kidnapped her sister or cornered the market on the herb that keeps her alive or threatened to feed her son's soul to ravenous ghosts if she refuses to obey — or tells the protagonist what's going on.

  Betrayers provide a wonderful plot twist and a great emotional punch, especially if the betrayer is — or seems to be — romantically involved with the protagonist. However, you have to set up a Betrayer with care. To be fair to the reader, you need to weave small clues about the Betrayer's intent into the narrative before the betrayal so the reader can be surprised but also mentally add, “And why didn't I see that coming?” Finding the balance between gentle whisper and a bullhorn isn't easy, though, and a fair number of authors abandon the idea altogether, choosing instead to rely on dramatic irony instead. The reader becomes aware early on that the Betrayer is quietly working against the clueless protagonist, and the reader gets sweaty palms hoping the main character will figure everything out in time — or that the Betrayer might have a last-minute change of heart. Luke Castellan from Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief and Edmund Pevensie from Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are both Betrayers.

  THE DARK LORD OR LADY

  The Dark Lord or Lady moves from the shadows. His reach extends to the far corners of the world, and his many minions do his bidding without hesitation. His vast powers are often nebulous, left unexplained or undefined. Many Dark Lords operate in secrecy — the protagonist may encounter several layers of minions before realizing the Dark Lord even exists.

  Dark Lords are tricky, from a writer's perspective. They inevitably invite comparison to Sauron from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy or Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. It's also difficult to come up with plausible reasons why the Dark Lord doesn't simply send an overwhelming force of minions to destroy the protagonist once and for all. On the plus side, the nature of a Dark Lord makes him intrinsically scary and automatically a difficult challenge for the protagonist. Stephen King used the Dark Lord antagonist when he created the Crimson King, who appears in several of his novels and short stories.

  THE HYDRA ORGANIZATION

  Destroy one agent, and two more take its place. The Hydra Organization has enormous resources, can field an infinite number of agents, and won't rest until the protagonist has been captured or killed. It can tap phones, hack computers, track credit cards, and insert agents almost anywhere. Some Hydra Organizations are “alphabet” groups like the FBI, CIA, or NSA. Others are secret societies with occult leanings like the Illuminati or the Masons. And yet others include groups of vampire clans, werewolf packs, or circles of sorcerers. A Hydra Organization may have as its leader another antagonist such as a Dark Lord or a One-Upper. The Unseelie Court from Emma Bull's War for the Oaks is a supernatural Hydra Organization, as are the General Oblation Board and the Magisterium from Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass and its sequels.

  As with protagonists, you can combine some of these archetypal traits when creating your antagonist. There's no reason you can't have a Lunatic Dark Lady or a Selfish Betrayer. Just be sure you give her as much thought and care as you give your protagonist.

  SUPPORTING CAST

  The rest of your characters are called the supporting cast. Some will be major characters, people who show up quite a lot, and you'll need to develop them just as fully as the protagonist. Minor characters, called spear carriers in theater, don't need much development. The cab driver who gives your protagonist directions can do it without a full life story, but your protagonist's love interest definitely needs one. Full development will guide you when your characters meet and interact, and character interaction is one of the factors that make a book fascinating.

  NAMES

  Character names must be chosen carefully. The name is the first thing a reader (and an editor) will see when the character appears, and that name creates a mental picture. Frederick creates a different mental image than Freddie, and the image Bess projects diverges
quite a lot from the one projected by Elizabeth.

  Naming characters in a paranormal novel can carry a few extra difficulties. Some, or even all, of your characters might come from another culture or another world, meaning you might be creating their names from scratch. It's easy to wind up with something that comes across as unintentionally silly or that's overused, which is why we need to take a closer look at the process.

  NORMAL NAMES

  Even characters who live in modern America and Europe need carefully chosen names. Everyone knows the trick of buying a baby name book or going to baby name sites for ideas. A few other tips:

  For male characters, names with a J or a K in them (Justin, Kevin, Jake) tend to sound action-oriented and totally way cool. As a result, they've become overused in both the real world and the fictional world. Jake shows up in a lot of books, for example. Try avoiding these unless you're really wedded to the name Kirk or Jason.