The Process behind writing to the latest TerribleMinds Flash Fiction Challenge – A Game of Aspects

So, I’ve decided I might just have to make the time to play with the flash fiction challenges Chuck Wendig posts on his terribleminds blog. They just look like too much fun to ignore any longer. This week we had to pick one word from three lists. I used a d10 for mine.

From Column 1, I ended up with: Sword and Sorcery (so far, so good; it could have been ‘erotica’ or ‘body horror’ and then where would I have been?);

From Column 2, I ended up with: Serial killer (not too bad, but I was secretly hoping for ‘dinosaurs’ or ‘insects’);

From Column 3, I ended up with: Man Versus Himself (YIKES!!!)

So, I rolled these at around 09:50 AEST on the 9 September 2012, and then I let it stew while I worked on a couple of other projects (I know I should ‘finish my shit’; I’m doing that, but I can’t do it by writing one thing at a time – sorry, it’s just not how I roll).

Anyway, I wanted to make sure I avoided the clichés, the biggest one of these being the serial killer ending up, surprise-surprise, being the guy hunting the serial killer – this is akin to the worn-out trope of the arsonist being the fire investigator chasing the arsonist. I also wanted to avoid the serial killer being a species of legendary creature that tends to kill to protect its lair or for food, or just because it’s made that way, a medusa, for instance. I discovered I had a dilemma when I found out that sorcerers in sword and sorcery are usually the villain, because I truly didn’t want to follow the old ‘mad wizard’ cliché, either.

After that, I decided I needed to make sure I actually understood what I was writing about, so I did a little research.

I was way off base with my initial understanding of sword and sorcery. Here’s the simplified definition I came up with after doing a bit of reading:

Sword and sorcery is a fast-paced adventure in a fantasy environment with protagonists who rely usually on their wits and their strength to succeed. These characters are usually outsiders to the culture and usually adventure for personal, self-satisfying reasons, such as wenching, wealth, or revenge and not because it’s the right thing to do or because they’re unintentional heroes. Robert E. Howard is considered one of the earliest writers in the sword and sorcery sub-genre. Main characters featured in sword and sorcery seem to be barbarians, or the thief-quick swordsman such as the Grey Mouser. Magic-users tend to be villains or, at the very least, untrustworthy companions with unfathomable agendas of their own. The gods tend not to play a big role in sword and sorcery.

Web Resources for the definition of Sword and Sorcery are as follows:

·         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sword_and_sorcery

·         http://writinghood.com/literature/sword-and-sorcery-a-fantasy-subgenre/

·         http://www.blackgate.com/the-demarcation-of-sword-and-sorcery/

·         http://www.swordandsorcery.org/defining-sword-and-sorcery.asp

·         http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/07/mind_meld_what_sword_and_sorcery_means_to_me/

I did a quick sketch of the definition of a serial killer, based on a bucket-load of background reading I’ve done for other stuff. It’s important to note that these (usually) guys are not cookie cutter stereotypes either. I decided I’d work with the following:

Serial killers are, according to the science, broken. They kill because it satisfies a need or deficiency within themselves. As a serial killer progresses, time between kills often grows shorter. Serial killers can evolve in their modus operandi and some set the scene of their kills. Staging can be a way of bragging, drawing police or community attention, or a means of justifying the murders being committed.

And finally, I took a look at the Man Versus Himself theme. So, I guessed this could be an internal conflict but I want to avoid the cliché of the guy doing the hunting being the guy doing the killing. Still, I had to recognize that internal conflicts come in all shapes and sizes. I also wanted to avoid the ‘surprise’ cliché of the killer being a woman. I know female serial killers exist, but they’re rare. The problem I then had was that guy serial killers are the norm so I decided to go with whatever gender suited the story best. Man Versus Himself could also mean mankind versus himself, I guess, but I have a feeling that this definition is more along the lines of one man’s battle with himself for whatever reason. Common internal battles include, crossing moral lines, fighting with addictions, or yielding to temptation. I guess one of those should work just fine.

Now all I have to do is work the outline, fit the ideas into 1,000 words and post it here, with the link at terribleminds.