I’ll take a look at Dragonswood (Dial Books for Young readers, 2012), I explored Dragonswood’s main character Tess, in the Character interview so readers will notice some overlap. I chose this story because I’ve lived and breathed Dragonswood for the past two years, so it’s the freshest in my mind.
What genre(s) do you consider this story primarily to be, or how would you describe this story?
Dragonswood is heroic fantasy with a female hero. The story is laced with historical and romantic undertones. (I feel like I’m describing a wine here). The romance between Tess and Garth Huntsman unfolds naturally out of Tess’s struggles, and the challenging medieval setting keeps the story grounded. I researched medieval culture uncovering things like people’s strange beliefs about witches. “The attendants go riding flying goats, trample the cross, are made to be re-baptized in the name of the Devil, give their clothes to him, kiss the Devil's behind, and dance back to back forming a round." Translated from the witch hunter manual, The Compendium Maleficarum, written in1608.
What is a published fiction story by another author you would compare this story to and why are they similar?
In the Character interview I mentioned similarities between Tess and Caitrin from Juliet Marillier’s Heart’s Blood. But in terms of story, I’d leave the fantasy genre and leap over to historical fiction to the applaud the book Gallows Wedding by Rhona Martin. Rhona Martin describes Hazel’s life on the run in medieval England in hauntingly brilliant detail.
To what extent did you use any pre-existing story formula, template, paradigm, plot design, archetype, or theory or principle of story/plot structure in planning, writing, editing or rewriting this story?
As I mention in another interview, Story Is Transformation. It’s a chronicling of some kind of change. Change for the positive on some level is traditionally called Comedy, change on the downslide, Tragedy. You spiral up or you spiral down, but the character has to move and change for it to be a story.
I think one of the reasons we read stories is to witness change in others, to see how other people handle life’s many challenges since life hits us all and tends to give all of us a pretty good smacking in the process.
My structure is organic. Plot and Character are inextricably bound. The story will unfold naturally as long as the character wrestles with the plot. In writing classes I say, “Make it personal.” Story comes out of the character’s need, in simplest terms, the character’s need for wholeness. In Dragonswood Tess needs the antagonist (the witch hunter) to ignite the journey. Running from the witch hunter forces Tess to learn how to survive, throws her under the protection of the huntsman (she’s vowed never to trust a man), and drives her into the fairy realm in Dragonswood where she learns the truth about herself. By the way the witch hunter needs Tess, too, but I won’t divulge that part of the story.
My writing style is an ongoing conversation with the inner storyteller. The first draft is part planning, part adventuring in the dark with a match that keeps going out. The adventurer has to keep striking a new match and listening to the inner storyteller for the next step, the next cue. If the characters are right for the novel they are absolutely driven to solve the story problem, so they, too, lead the way.
You asked about revision. I write for myself. I revise for the reader. My editorial letters show me the many places I need to address to tighten the tale. I write lots of drafts. Sometimes editorial questions spur surprisingly creative solutions. When my editor questioned Lady Adela’s glass eye, “Did they have glass eyes back then?” I had to do some more research. When I saw it was historically problematic, my inner storyteller proposed another solution. “What if the glass eye was a gift from the fey folk?” This little detail added a new wrinkle to the story and became essential to Lady Adela’s character.
How would you describe the first chapter, scene or section of this story in one paragraph?
I already described the opening chapter in the Character interview, so I’ll describe a later scene where Tess and her friends are forced to hide with the huntsman in Dragonswood. Tess’s friends are relieved to have food and shelter at last, but Tess isn’t sure. She says:
“You know as well as I this could all be a trick to win our trust. He settles us in, then off he goes to the sheriff or to Lady Adela for the bounty money.” I knew better than to trust a man. Even Grandfather had vanished in my hour of need.
“He wouldn’t turn us in,” Poppy said, licking the honey from her fingers noisily. I was just as desperate as they were for a safe haven. Still, I’d seen him in the fire-sight, not just once, but twice. Couldn’t it have been a warning? I’d promised to bring my friends to safety. It was foolhardy to let go my vigilance now only to be trapped.
What makes this chapter, scene or section an effective opening for this story?
Tess has no choice but to trust the huntsman. At this point they’re facing starvation or capture and death on the witch’s pyre. But Tess knows the huntsman’s not being completely honest with them. Having grown up with an abusive father, she believes you should ‘never trust a man.’ This belief is put to the test again and again by Garth Huntsman. Every scene in a novel should do two jobs, first move the plot forward, second, develop character. The huntsman’s rescue provides help as well as adding new dangers = plot development. It threatens Tress’s long-held beliefs about trusting men = character development.
What major stages, twists or turns does the story conflict take in this story before the conflict is resolved (or not resolved)?
Tess’s need to escape her troubled past and find her freedom drives her into more conflict. Meeting Garth Huntsman begins to feel like an answer, but the story isn’t finished with her yet. A confrontation with the fairy folk in Dragonswood at the midway point reveals a much richer story going on – one that intersects her personal flight towards freedom with Wilde Island’s destiny as a whole. Tess discovers the powerful fey need her. How she responds to their needs, trying to balance them against her own needs and still remain loyal is Tess’s final challenge.
How would you summarise the major sub-plot or sub-plots in this story? If this story has no sub-plots, how would you describe the main sub-plot or sub-plots from one of your favourite published fiction stories by another author?
I described the sub-plot revolving around Tess’s friends, Meg and Poppy in the Character interview, so I’ll take a bit of page time to look at Tess and Garth Huntsman. Tess thinks you should ‘never trust a man.’ This isn’t some side belief. Tess grew up with a violent father who beat her and her mother. She saw other abused women in her medieval village every day. It was not against the law to beat women and children in medieval times, and it was all too common. What reason would she have to trust a man, especially a powerful man? She’s conflicted when she begins to fall for Garth. Later when she learns he’s lied to her, she’s faced with a problem. Does she fall back on her old belief ‘never trust a man’ or does she risk learning the reason for his lies?
What does the story gain from the sub-plot or sub-plots?
The sub-plots do their part to mirror the central story theme and develop greater character connection. The sub-plot of Meg and Poppy’s flight from the witch hunter highlights Tess’s shame over naming them. Tess considers herself to be a loyal friend. How can she call herself loyal now? The sub-plot with Garth Huntsman also mirrors Tess’s need for independence from men. How can she learn to love and still be free? Not every sub-plot has to challenge the main character, but it’s better if it does.
To what extent would you describe your story discussed here as typical or atypical of your fiction stories?
Dragonswood shares certain heroic themes with my other fantasy novels. Of course it’s closest to its companion book Dragon’s Keep (Harcourt, 2007). Both medieval stories read like novelized fairytales for teens and adults. Note: fairytales as told by Grimm were chock-full of danger and violence and were not meant for children). A good novel should be lasting. It should haunt the reader. I love it when my readers say they’ve read one of my novels over and over again.
There’s a reason why the fairytales of old have lasted hundreds of years. These tales touch on some central truth or belief about life and about human nature. Marian Roalfe Cox compiled Cinderella: Three Hundred and Forty-five Variants of Cinderella, Catskin and Cap O’ Rushes, abstracted and tabulated, in 1892. Since her compilation more than a hundred years ago, many more stories and novels have been written based on some aspect of Cinderella. See more here (http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/other.html )
To the reader who ventures into Story. Move fearlessly through the pages. Walk well.
Author website: www.janetleecarey.com
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