Notes for Getting Started Again - Where the Map Ends

Notes for Getting Started Again
Herein are the thoughts I've had about the story since last I put it down: 1. I like the idea of corporate worship (esp. singing) being able to
transport us into God's presence. What about a whole magic system based
on things that can do this: great sermons, great prayers, private
meditations, etc.? The bad guys have their own magic system, too, and it
uses some of the same things, but to transport you elsewhere.
1. "The Shift." I like the idea of Christian characters coming to the point
where they reach a kind of enlightenment, that moment when they realize
what's really going on. They have a change in perspective in which they
come to see what God's doing in the world. They see everything in the
world from God's perspective. Suddenly it's not about whether or not
we'll have enough money to pay bills this month; now it's about what God
is doing, teaching faith, for instance. The money will be there. Worry
goes away because you suddenly understand what He's doing. Maybe Tiercel
sees a strong man carrying Tiercel in his arms. He realizes it's him
being carried. Glimpses of a new guiding metaphor could be the things
that propel him to this discovery. Only the most enlightened reach this
point. Dabbling in the rift between this world and the spirit world is
good, and may be a doorway of discovery, but it's not where the real
action and power are.
1. What about a story that is all about increasing someone's faith? The
whole society [of Paladins] is based on a person's quantity of faith.
Maybe not the whole society, maybe just the elite holy warrior class our
hero (Tiercel?) wants to join? "Well, how much endurance does he have?"
"Hmm, better send him some more tests to increase his faith." Central
question: How to, and whether to, be faithful to a God who appears
absent, disinterested, or unfaithful to you.
1. One form of magic is flesh magic. Practitioners gain power by sucking
things from other people. One example of this is lust: They gaze on
objects of their lust to extract from them something that strengthens
their flesh. Another example would be those who have to have mastery over
someone else, expressed on one level by simple ridicule and dominance,
and on the higher level in total humiliation and torture. Extract enough
things that empower the flesh and the flesh is extremely empowered.
. Use the "power source" analogy. When this character enters a room or a
location, he scans for the brightest power sources (the beautiful
women). The lowest form of gratification to be gained is this: simple
extraction of lust-invoking "juice" brought be ogling them. If the
magician can cause the most beautiful woman to look at him, to simply
pay attention to him and notice him, it sends an electric jolt through
the body, rendering the next higher level of power and extracted
goodness. If, through sundry manipulations, the magician can cause the
beautiful woman to smile and laugh, to show affection, that is another
level entirely. (It should be noted that at this point the levels of
lust-juice have overrun normal boundaries and the magician will need
to maintain or exceed this level of energy extraction or suffer an
excruciating fall.) The fourth level is attraction, in which the
beautiful woman becomes shy and makes choices to be closer to the
magician. Here we are reaching the higher altitudes of lust magic. The
ultimate level, however, is when the beautiful woman now pursues and
attempts to seduce the magician. At this point, the level of lust-
extraction is extreme. It will be all but impossible to maintain or
equal this level (at least with this beautiful woman, which is why he
must then move on), but for a while it will be incredible.
. Why not give Rale this form of magic? He's Sting, baby-he can be
incredibly beguiling and seductive to any woman.
1. Another form of magic is what Christians sometimes do: trying to
manipulate God to display His power on our behalf. Self-flagellation is
one method.
1. [This isn't magic.] In the cast commentary of The Two Towers (on Disk
2), Elijah Wood points out that every single major character in the
trilogy "gets broken" at some point in the story. Each one reaches the
point in which things are just too much. How they deal with that is what
makes the drama. Smeagol gets pushed too far and becomes only Gollum.
Eowyn gets pushed too far and decides to suit up as a male warrior.
Theoden is broken by his guilt for failing his people, and he reacts by
leading a heroic charge on the Battle of Pelonnor Field. Gandalf is
broken by the Balrog. Sam is broken when Frodo tells him to go away.
Arwen is broken by leaving middle earth, and then by seeing a vision of
the son she could have, and responds by staying anyway. It's a great
thing to point out and something I could really use in my fiction.
1. In order to be truly balanced, Christian "magicians" have to reach a
point in their daily quiet times when they realize that God is truly in
charge of everything and they're just joining Him. This happens with me
in my prayer times: I'm going on and on about my concerns and even
protestations of loyalty to God, etc., but it's all me calling the shots,
it's all me in control. Then sometimes-not always-I make this shift, this
realization, that God's really the one DOING anything, and I'm just
joining Him (maybe). There's an actual physical feeling in my brain when
I do this, a relaxing, a feeling that I'm coming down from a position of
(supposed) control and am coming to be alongside God or, more accurately,
to be looking up at Him wondering what I could possibly do to aid Him in
His work. When I reach that, I know I'm balanced and acknowledging His
mastery of the universe. If I don't, I'm in grave danger of thinking any
of it is up to me-and thus failing and remaining powerless and having to
draw from reserves. I'd much rather be a conduit for Him.
1. When I think about the ultimate story now, here are the elements I want
to include
o I think the opening, with Wharram Dale kicking Tiercel out, is perfect
as it is
o I want there to be at least two kinds of "power" or magic: one used by
Christians, the other used by non-Christians; maybe multiple kinds of
magic (I like using the suffix -istrics to replace -mancy or -ology or
-maturgy; thus thaumistrics instead of thaumaturgy and necrostrics
instead of necromancy)
o Must have the Paladins, the equivalent of Airborne Rangers, but
they're all Christian warriors, the holy warriors-use aspects of the
Men of God clan
o Must have them singing their manly songs; men's chorus
o Must have an elite group inside this elite: the holiest of holy
warriors-they're still incredible warriors and swordsmen, but they
also grapple in "special warfare": spiritual warfare, specifically
o Still like the idea of someone trying to cause a rift between this
world and the demonic; so I guess that means I still like the idea of
all the things that explore the boundary between this world and the
next: birth, death, dreams, prophecy, war, and torture
o Must have our hero defending the ramparts in a desperate Alamo-style
attack on a castle; the good guys use all kinds of tricks and
stratagems to great effect, but the enemy is just too many and the
battle is turning in the enemy's favor; magic of all kinds is used; in
the end the good guys hold the wall and are rescued; maybe this is the
scene in which Tiercel is leaping atop the ramparts, diving, fighting
on a higher level, jumping over sword swipes, bounding around to try
to get at the enemy captain, who is his only real rival/equal on the
battlefield
o I love the idea of "Keep on the Borderlands," that first D&D adventure
I played all those years ago. Just a wide open, monster-inhabited
wildland with a single outpost of civilization; maybe this is the
castle our hero defends; intrepid adventurers can make it here and use
it as a staging area and resupply/healing center; dens of evil
monsters, zombies, wolves, and all the rest are only a day's journey
from the Keep; and the in-between places are inhabited by nasties
o I love the idea of men and creatures battling it out on the physical
plane, but the real power struggle happening on the
spiritual/metaphysical plane. Maybe still use the image of the
physical-only Paladins protecting our spiritual Paladin in a
collapsing pocket, giving him precious seconds to throw down his
spiritual opponent and thus carry the day
. I love the idea of the love interest, and I like it that she's the
former prostitute; I like it that he sees her as innocent and pure; I
like it that the enemy wants her; I like it that he wants her to go
back to being what she used to be, but she's different now
o I heard about how a woman who had been sexually molested as
child felt, as a young woman, that she was too dirty, too awful,
too sinful, too used for God to ever accept. Broke my heart. I
should use that for this woman.
o I like some of my characters in the first draft: the churchman who
should be holy but is pursuing a alternative lifestyle, the son of the
noble who falls in love with the Celtic girl from the wrong side of
the tracks, and the diabolist based on Sting
o I like the idea of basing some of this on faith-if that's truly what
God cares about, then let's show that here, intensely
o I like the small scale skirmish/ambush they're in in which Tiercel