The subtle art of ‘Facing’

 I haven’t been especially diligent in updating here, but I promise that I have actually been writing. Or, well, thinking about writing. It turns out that it is exceptionally hard to avoid cliché starts to your novel when the first scene takes place on a stormy night. Still, I’ve managed to nail down a few more things; background and names for the benevolent couple, a bit of lore for the world and I’ve given the protagonist a dog.

I know what you’re thinking; reaction from too much Game of Thrones? Probably, subconsciously at least. That said, it’s really helped me solidify him in my mind. There are some great scenes to be had with a dog; naming him, being guarded by him, using him to woo the love interest, stuff like that. Plus, a lone kid in the big city is a lot safer with a massive hound protecting him. Most importantly it’s given me an alias for the character; Wolf. Simple, memorable and has that punchy feel to it like the dossiers in Mass Effect 2, ideal for a notorious kind of character.

As I mentioned before, foreigners are viewed with extreme distrust in the city (it’s not so bad in the countryside, which is ultimately why the couple set up shop there). Often to get things done they need to act through an intermediary, but the legitimate types charge exorbitant fees that most can’t afford so instead they turn to the underworld, looking for a ‘Face’. These characters tend to be people of mixed blood, like-skinned foreigners or even genuine locals fallen on hard times.

That’s just one aspect of a Face, of course. Just like a person can have different expressions, Faces can fulfil different roles. Obtaining loans, leasing property, delivering messages, infiltrating rival companies... there’s a lot of room for specification there. Wolf tends towards more altruistic ventures like helping people open accounts and obtain loans, but only after initially falling in with a bad crowd who exploit him. I’ll be fleshing out an experienced Face who, while not quite taking him under his wing, is impressed by his intelligence and shows him the possibilities of his position. One thing I like about this is that while Wolf’s a talented Face, a great part of it is just due to his circumstances; being a nameless local is absolutely ideal for this line of work.

Part of the trick to being a great Face is balancing notoriety with secrecy. The more well known you are, the more willing people are to go out of their way for you; after all, when you’ve got an account open in someone’s name it’s in your best interests to keep them safe. At the same time, infamy draws attention; from the legitimate intermediaries who don’t like you undercutting their business, and from the Archive Enforcers. There’s also the chance you’ll be found out, upsetting your clients and getting both them and the authorities after you. Walking that tightrope is a tough act to pull off, and I expect it’ll be a fun challenge to write.

Again, ‘Face’ is really simple (I actually used it the first time I thought of the idea) but punchy; credit to the book ‘Among Thieves’ for cementing the idea in my mind. (I’ll post up a review once I finish it if it’s sufficiently entertaining.)

Bit of brainstorming here, excuse the incoherency. Ideas for contacts; a shady banker where Wolf keeps some of his money, fully aware that his high interest paying account in the city could be shut down at any time, a long time customer who provides him with rooms when he needs residence in better areas town.

His first interaction with the more experienced Face is him feeling as if he’s been a little short-changed relative to the effort he’s put in after some heist. Archive clerics need to be present at birth to record the baby’s name, so perhaps they’re trained in midwifery? Not too sure about this, seems a bit trite and sexist considering that’s the role I’m ascribing to the love interest. It lends more mystery to Wolf’s origins though.

Wolf’s dog is part of a breed that ages slowly - more in line with humans – but continues growing and lives for longer as well. Half-grown at five years, so big enough to protect by the time he hits the city.

Think that about wraps this up, save for the fact that I’ve set myself a target of 10,000 words by the start of November. I want to get this well underway so that I can really buckle down and kick ass when NaNoWriMo starts (I think continuing something you’ve already started is against their rules? Whatever). Pretty generous I hope; this entry is over 800 words long after all. I probably won’t be posting any actual chapters as my friends have got me all paranoid, but I’ll keep you posted.

(Alternative title to this entry: Semi-colons everywhere)

What's in a name?

A common theme in fantasy is the idea that names have power, and knowing someone's true name gives you leverage over them. The world I want to create explores that by having governments that use census data to enforce somewhat totalitarian regimes. They can track you with it and restrict your actions should they deem it fit.

Dissenters try and escape this control by travelling to other cities or continents where their names aren't known, but it's a near universal practice. Anyone not on record is treated with suspicion - the government line is that if they haven't done anything wrong, why are they running? - and penalise people communing with these unknowns, so whether they want to or not, they tend to end up as part of the criminal element.

This is where my protagonist comes in. He's nameless, for a reason I haven't quite nailed down yet. I'm leaning towards his mother being a mute which would be cause enough for people to shun her, either dying in childbirth or due to fatigue from fleeing some antagonistic element. He's raised by a rural-ish couple who keep him safe and happy until census time rolls around.

Here's where it starts getting a bit fuzzy for me. I like the idea that they send him away with some provisions before the official arrives, with the intent that he returns when it's all clear. Something goes wrong and they're taken in for "harboring malcontents" or something similar and taken to the capital. He follows them there at great difficulty and manages to get in contact somehow, where he decides to sever ties to keep them from coming to harm.

Inevitably, he ends up in the seedier parts of town, where the inhabitants are quick to find uses for a nameless local. Over the years he becomes something of a prime commodity due to his ability to blend in unlike the foreigners, lending a respectable local face to subversive ventures. He becomes a confident, capable young man.

However, since he hit puberty he's been hearing voices; faintly at first, but growing clearer and more insistent as he ages. They promise him all sorts and eventually one finally hits the one thing that he's always wanted - it says says it could tell him his real name. This eventually leads to him infiltrating the Archive where all the names are stored and ultimately releasing a horror of some description.

It turns out that while the government uses names to control, it also uses those names to protect from these destructive outside elements. This knowledge is kept secret simply because they know that should it become public then there'll always be power-hungry individuals who'll take the risk. It now falls to our hero to set right the damage he's done...

I'm really surprised with how fleshed out this idea seems to me, relative to many of my others. Gap fillers were occurring to me even as I typed, which is nice.

One big hurdle for me is trying to keep the government sufficiently sympathetic before the twist, which I think I can accomplish by having a love interest who's part of it. She can either be the daughter of a law enforcer following in her father's footsteps, or an Archivist cleric.

Both work, and I can use them as his means to get into the Archive. They need to be recurring characters beforehand, but he steps up his seduction towards the end to achieve his goal, directed by the voice. It also creates some convenient conflict should this idea ever go further, which I really hope it does.