The Special Curse

We all want to write about characters who are special. Often, in fantasy, to make a character stand out, we write and read about queens and kings, princes and princesses, ladies and knights, and hidden heirs. In fantasy, the stakes are usually world-challenging, trend-bucking, magic-changing.

We wonder. We dream. We want to see a girl who can change the world.

But often, we take those characters and give them prophecies to fulfill, lovers to mesmerize, rivals to who are defeated to only showcase that rival’s own evil and hideous motivations.

But is that a challenge?

Are our characters really allowed to struggle and emerge triumphant without a hidden legacy? Or a secret legitimacy for seeking power?

Are our characters really given the ability to fight for what they want? Fighting is where characters–people–can grow the most. Fighting for something we want and believe in.

But as we think more and more in developing our characters, sometimes we give them things that they haven’t had to fight for. Or we give the reader too much assurance of success. Or we give the character too much cluelessness about the situation to know how to apply themselves, to stretch and to grow, in order to achieve what they need to achieve, plot-wise and character-wise.

Characters need to fight for what they need to survive and thrive. Characters need more than specialness to back them up when a tight situation comes around. While dynamic and loyal friends can assist, they need the character to appreciate them more than just as a tool along the path of the journey. Characters need to earn loyalty in that regard.

While characters can have a background mythology or a guiding prophecy, they need to earn their success.

While it seems basic, there are so many temptations to give the protagonist an extra boost, an extra shove into a class for specialness reserved for those whose stories are meant to be told. Our histories often only tell the tales of the remarkable elite. There is a note in most guides to writing romance that mid-to-low class Regency or Victorian characters do not make good reads; readers don’t want to face the realities of those times in escapist literature. But as we work to make our characters more and more a breed of fighters, there is more story to be had, more engagement and adventure to be seen, more genre to explore.