Writing marathons and neck pain

So yesterday after I finished working and I had some time to myself, I took up another writing prompt challenge. It had to do with taking a side character from the future (I interpreted this as using something from a future book/currently working on project). I immediately thought of Larsik Slithoson.

Now, Larsik has been part of the idea for my fantasy series since its inception, all the way back in the early 2000's, when I started putting thoughts together into a semblance of a storyline. His name was set (wanted to do the nordic "son of thing" with clans, etc), he was going to be a traditional dwarf, my main character's best friend. I hadn't come up with much of a back story except to determine that he was a loyal and courageous friend, who liked a joke of two.

Although the story changed a lot in this 2016 revision I did a couple of months ago, Larsik as a character didn't change all that much. Certain things about his magic use evolved, but that was true for every character. His core: brave, loyal and funny, did not.

Now, I had made a choice after this revision as well, about non-human "tolkien-esque" races in the story. I had decided that I didn't want them, and that still holds. Larsik being a traditional fantasy dwarf merely evolved into what we call little people in real life. I wanted the challenges that come with being a little person to come through, and I hope I did it justice, although I didn't harp on them too much. 

This being fantasy, but adding a little "realism" to it, I think it will give plenty of fertile ground for interesting character arcs, but I don't necessarily want it to be all about that. In the end, Larsik is still studying to become a warrior wizard, he has a mission: join his father and brothers in the war. Any differences he has from "regular-sized folk" or discrimination will certainly influence his thinking, particularly since I've made the Dothlurians a nomadic, gypsy-like culture, but it wont completely define him. His friendship with my main character doesn't change that, and the way I've adjusted the progression of the story, we actually only get a brief glimpse of Larsik at the start. He will come back in a big way, though, down the line. At least that's the plan... 

 

I loved writing his short story. I think (hoped) I managed to get across some of his temperament and sense of humor, which I want to use a lot of in the book, as well as the basis for his relationship with Tomas, two peas in a pod in certain ways. Two "outcasts" who find each other and form a strong friendship that gets them through the Academy. 

Since in the book I follow the adage: "in late, out early" I'm not planning on including any of these building blocks for their friendship, but I could see myself writing a couple more of their shenanigans in the future. Neck pain aside, I think these 5K words I knocked out in one sitting for his short story flowed much, much faster than any of the others I've done so far, which were only half that. 

I'm pretty sure that it's because I had a clearer sense of who the character was, in my head, even if I hadn't written it down. 

In the end, I hope A Night on the Town was a fun read. It's the longest short story I've done so far, and I'm definitely going to submit it for the next quarter for the Writers of the Future competition.

So today I expect that I'll be plodding through my day job, with my mind on writing, as usual. I doubt very much that I'll be doing another long writing session this week though, because my neck really hurts. My wife thinks I probably sat with bad posture for the entire 3-4 hour stretch, and she's likely right (as usual). But after work, who knows? I might try writing lying down. 

I've got the bug and itching to write again, which makes me happy.

Chair...