Heroes, Villains, and Me

     Well, hello again, world! It's been, what, an entire month? And what a month it's been! I've done so many things, accomplished a considerable amount in school, started basketball, celebrated Christmas and now we've begun an entire new year: 2011...          

So you might logically assume that 30 days is plenty time for me to get something written for my book, right?
     Well, not quite.
Writing this month has been slow, drudging work. I suppose, though, if I were to say something about every month that's past since I started writing, at least a day out of every one would have been slow too.
It must be, then, that slowness is a part of my writing process. At least, that's what I'm hoping is the case, and the finished results will be worth the long wait.
     We'll see.
This month, though, I've been blessed with ample time to really think about some things in writing (mine and that of others). I've though extensively on some matters, and very briefly on others. Even though all this thinking may not yield dozens of pages of my book, I had some in-depth thoughts on villains and heroes that I thought I'd share. 
     So first, I feel it is not only fair, but also prudent, that the author of a story spend a proper amount of time thinking about the villain of the tale.
The villain?
I know.
It's not a pleasant topic to think about. I can understand if you are immediately disgusted by the thought of thinking about it, too. I mean, it's the bad guy. Rightly, we've been taught to hate injustice, cruelty, evil...all qualities which are manifested by villains. I'll admit, it often makes be uncomfortable to spend time thinking about evil, even searching to find ways to understand and perhaps, if possible, justify it.
But I must be fair.
With all this thinking I've been doing lately, I have come to a couple of broad conclusions which may be, I believe, applied to most every villain (and by this, I mean the human kind of villain, not the unfeeling, alien overlord).
Villainy, treachery, tyranny (take your pick) appear to problems which stem from a deeper one, an age-old vice of humanity: the desire for power.
Now, I know what you're thinking...mostly because I raised the same question: that there are many other notable things (greed, hatred, envy etc.) that would certainly be cause for evil acts.
But here, let us look to the stories...Did Rumpelstiltskin take the queen's child because he thought he'd be a great dad, or because he wanted to be able to control the only heir to the throne? Did Sauron seek to destroy the Fellowship because he was jealous of Gimli's beard, or because they threatened to vanquish his grip on Middle Earth, once and for all? Did the White Witch assemble an army to fight Aslan because she was in the mood to wipe out some of the satyr population, or because she saw that the rightful king had returned and could reclaim Narnia?
Their thirst for power is not only the weakness, but also the downfall of these villains.
However, we must admit that a villain is not born evil. No one is. If it were so, villainy could be passed off as a genetic defect in a person, some kind of weakness of will one is born with.
But villainy is not born. It is learned. It is acquired. It slows eats at the hearts of men.
And all because of power.
These conclusions, though hard to dwell upon for long, have given me a keener understanding of my villain himself. I'm sure, when I attempt to explain the (faulty) reasoning behind my villain's evil ways (instead of merely handing him a mace to swing, giving him a tattoo and telling him to walk into the scene to some dramatic organ music), he'll be very grateful.

 And now, having covered both myself and villains, it's high time I give some attention to the heroes.
These fair folk require very few soul-searching, thought-provoking questions to understand them like the villains. For every man is expected to be moral, to do good, to act virtuously, and if he must, save a couple of damsels in distress. The people who live up to this expectation are to be commended, as it is a much rarer feat to accomplish, than, say, becoming a villain.
Heroes=some serious writing fun. Okay, I'll admit, writing about a villain is an occasional thrill...but at least for heroes I don't have worry about thinking who they're going to betray or murder next...
Thus, heroes are a little easier for me to discuss. They set the moral standard for the world, leading by example and serving as a model of good behavior.
But because I thoroughly examined the villains, I must do as much to the heroes as well.
So, what makes a hero?
If power makes a villain, or at least, contributes to their evilness, then wouldn't it only be logical that humility make a hero?
In a ways, yes. A hero goes above and beyond to love, to save, to sacrifice...
For me, the character of a hero is a joy to write about for a couple reasons. First, when I am writing about one, I'd like to imagine that, when faced with the same problems as that character, I'd also make the right choice. Second, I've found, in rereading my writing, that not only do I pour an immense amount of myself into some characters, but their actions, words, thoughts all reflect my desires to be good, moral, lovely, wise, admired, humble, and virtuous...as if some of the "good guys" I write about are actually what I perhaps might be like if I possessed every virtue, could overcome every sin and, to top it all, was pretty spectacular with a broad-sword.
Heroes, however, aren't to be mistaken as some sort of perfect, god-like figure, otherwise their triumph over adversity and over their faults wouldn't exist, as they wouldn't even have faults to begin with. Heroes are understandably human, and, consequently, make human mistakes. But the measure of their bravery is shown in one important test: whether or not they can, first, overcome their own weaknesses, and then, after they have done this, if they can triumph over evil.
This is the test of a hero. And it is not an easy test, as it demands that one first look into his own soul and weed out the bad, before turning his eyes to the evil of the world. But this is what a (good) character is built upon.
This thinking too, has helped me to see alongside my hero of my story (though I have several). Their decisions, I realize, reflect many things in their personalities, influence many people, and answer questions...Hopefully, I can represent them in a way that is good.

     So, I guess the entire point of this rather long and rambling blog entry was to present my foremost thoughts on villains and heroes, to report the small amount of progress I have made, and perhaps even to reassure myself that I haven't been completely unproductive this month. In any case, I know it has helped me. And I'm telling myself that it will be worth it when I have some deep, well-developed characters to show for it. Maybe my villain and hero will be grateful. But most importantly, I'm hoping my readers will be.

The Quill is Mightier Than the Sword?

     Well...I have found a way to continue writing. Yes, (I know it's dorky) I have taken up a quill as my writing tool...

     Is it as crazy as it sounds? Absolutely. It's troublesome, I'll admit, to keep a constantly light pressure as you're writing, to have to dip into my tiny bottle of blue ink every line, to ignore the scritch-scratching sound that it insists on making as I write, to have to peel the sticky pages of my notebook apart when I'm finished writing.... 

     However, as I write, I can't help but reflect on how many brilliant and important things were written with a quill...and an actual feather quill at that! I often feel rather spoiled when writing with a metal-tipped quill, and then a little bit guilty, as if I'm cheating at it... Those would be be the times when I look up from my paper, and notice an entire glass crammed with ballpoint pens, pencils, and crayons, all available for use, all so close, all at my fingertips. The guilt fades, then, and I still choose to use a quill. After all, what if I were to tell someone that, when faced with the choice of either an old-fashioned quill or a crayon, I chose the crayon? 
That would be pretty unremarkable. 

     It seems that every line I write with a quill, the more enjoyable it becomes. Does this mean I'll forever use a quill and never again use Microsoft Word to solve my horrendous spelling problems? Uh, no! In all honesty, I don't think most my book would come together as it is without our old, trusty computer. It is nice, though, to every so often take a break from that and revert back to a seemingly prehistoric tool: the quill. I find it to be an amazing stress reliever to carefully scratch out a part of your story with a quill and ink, strange as it sounds.
     Additionally, I've managed to crank out around twelve pages in the last week or so (yes, yes, I know...quality before quantity). But that's a production rate I haven't been able to replicate in a long while--probably not for half-a-year or so. All because of a quill...hmm.
In any case, I feel like maybe all it took to rekindle my love for writing was a simple quill. Had I known it would help me so much, I probably would have gotten one when I began writing in the first place. I'm looking forward to writing more with it!
Thanks to my sister who got it for me for Christmas! Best gift EVER!