False Gods: How to Create Conflict and Suspense

[mackknopf]

I'm reading books on story structure and having a number of new thoughts lately.

From my cousin Greg in Texas: "I’m more a mystery and sci-fi kinda guy but the summary sounds interesting enough.  You really need to capitalize on the first three words of the summary.  That’s quite a funny lead in the novels title.  No doubt intended.  Sounds like fun to work on."

My response:

Gracias. :)

Yes, it's instant conflict to be the first atheist in a world full of "gods," most of whom take offense at being told off!  The main character gets his own set of powers, so can successfully oppose them.  Some of the same issues come up as in T. H. White's "The Sword and the Stone," namely whether might can be used in the service of right.  Self-obviously (to me), might alone does not make right, though it may impose a twisted sort of order.  This theme, along with order versus chaos, law and civilization versus anarchy, is key to why I can still enjoy (well-done) superhero comics. 

Khamaat, the protagonist, is quite offended that a bunch of people with superhuman powers are claiming to be omnipotent, ominiscient, omnibenevolent, etc., and sets out to oppose them.  The counterbalance to him is the love interest, who also develops powers, but is not quite ready to throw the baby out with the bathwater yet when it comes to belief.  So they have a lot of conflict themselves even as their attraction develops. 

The antagonists are a lot of fun to write, too.  The main adversary of the god Set, for instance, is Machiavellian, sneaky, suave, and with irritatingly good points sometimes.  Set was part of the royal family and was their strategist before being exiled into the desert for wanting to marry his sister, Isis.  See, his brother Osiris got to marry Isis instead...

I'm revising the outline and going to start Draft 4 or 5 (whichever it is) with word one, page one, and then revise the text from there.  I didn't always write sequentially, so I have some gaps both in the text and the outline that need filling in.  I think it might be possible to do my whole plot as one book, no sequel, but I'll see.  Writing fiction is a good hobby and a way to invest my time, though I'm not going to take away from my regular activities to do it.  I love writing at night, when all is quiet and there's not much to do.  I did cancel my cable TV, but I wasn't watching it much any way.  That saves sixty bucks a month, and I mainly watch television at my parent's (go Yankees!).  I'm thinking of getting Netflix for movies and old TV shows, which is quite cheap.

The picture icon, by the way, has a "khopesh" in the center, which is an ancient Egyptian bronze sword, like the one that Khamaat steals from the god Amun.

Appropriate quotes from Terry Pratchett, one of my favorite authors:

Small Gods:  "He says gods like to see an atheist around.  Gives them something to aim at."

From the same book:  "No.  Men should die for lies.  But the truth is too precious to die for."