I have a lot to say about the Hesitant Hero. Some of which I’ve already said, most of which I’ll probably talk about twelve more times before I finally realize no one else is interested in this information. As a teacher, I’ve learned that reflecting on the work you’ve done is crucial in growing, so that’s what I want to do. Whenever I think something about the work I’ve done I’ll just put it in a post like this. Today I want to talk a little bit more about the rough ideas I had for this story and how I wanted to put this into practice.
Let’s start with the perspective for this story. I’ve attempted writing two stories in this world so far, one of which was more of a test run for me that didn’t end up being as good as I would have liked. The core difference was that the first story was done from the perspective of the person who came to the new world. It didn’t feel quite right for Mana’s story though. I wanted to try my hand at writing a story from the perspective of someone else. I wanted to try and emulate the helplessness of having someone around you who is anxious and stressed while not knowing what to do about it. That’s how I eventually ended up with Cobal as the narrator of the story. I did notice at times that I wrote scenes where I included Mana’s thought and I had to stop myself from doing so.
So now we have the core for a story. Cobal has to deal with a hesitant hero. He struggles with the duality of making her become a hero yet also, especially as time goes on and they spend time in the Liriath Forest, as a friend of sorts. They definitely grow closer as he understands her more, and she realizes that Cobal is not an enemy. I look back on writing this story wondering if I portrayed that growth in their relationship properly. Knowing they’d become friends as the story went on made it kind of difficult at times to write their more harsh interactions. Before I submit this story to some agent or publisher or however that works, I still need to read those again and see if I portrayed it all the correct way. It turns out writing a good story takes a lot of time and effort.
I’d also like to talk about some of the other characters. Mainly Kimi and Cassandra. I wanted to have two very different ways of life represented. Kimi, as a spirit, is entwined in magic, and the fantastical elements of the world. Cassandra, although aware that magic exists and interested in it to a degree, is much more practical. I wanted her to see magic as a stepping stool for her inventions. If magic could solve a problem that her inventions lacked, it could be used as a tool like any other. I’m hoping to bring that duality back and they might even team up together. I definitely have some plans for either character which is good because I sure didn’t have any plans for them when I started out this story.
That’s another thing I still am quite proud of. A year ago, as of writing this, all I had for this story was a failed page or two and a concept. I knew I wanted Mana to be reserved and Might’s situation to be clear to her. I also knew I wanted Cobal to be a little bit arrogant at first, but not so much that he’s not likable from the start. I have another series I’m working on where I want to write a lot more complex and often unlikable characters, but I want this to be a fun series. There’ll absolutely be conflict, but I’m writing this as an outlet to relax as well, so as of now I don’t want anything to go too wrong. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll repeat half of this the next time I talk about this series so don’t remember it too hard okay? Thanks for reading, hope to see you all here again for a new post after the weekend.
Opal Kaharis 