Tag: Anonymous

Hi Dets! Hope you’re having a lovely day. I was wondering if you had any advice for those of us who have trouble finishing stories? I’ll have an idea that I feel really good about, enthusiastically plot it out and write a few thousand words, then abandon it due to losing my confidence or interest in the idea. At this point, I’d be delighted to finish anything. Any tips on how to keep moving forward?

Hey Nonnie!

Ahhh, I can try? As with all advice I try to write, this is absolutely ONLY what works for me. It might work for you!

Sometimes I find that after I have plotted something, i lose interest. That’s because I have already solved all the mysteries that might be in store for me as I write it! I like to be surprised when I write – now and then, something pops up that I never planned to incorporate, and following that vein can lead to all sorts of goodness. If I have plotted everything out down to the last nut and bolt, I have no room to explore all those themes and tracks that might crop up… so now and then, I throw my notes out of the window, begin a new scene and see where it takes me. That generally invigorates my enthusiasm for what I am doing.

Character studies! There are HUNDREDS of them here on tumblr alone you can use to really delve into who they are – and once you have, writing a brief drabble or slice-of-life peek into a moment of their lives prior to your story can give you an even better ‘feel’ of them, their voices, and their reactions. 

Another technique I use is to go back and read. I read my own work a lot, really (I have to! Otherwise I’ll lose track of everyone, GOD THERE ARE A LOT OF CHARACTERS). Sometimes a line will jump out at me saying, ‘remember me? You had some ideas for this particular thread that haven’t yet been followed up on!’ And so off I go, hurtling down a new pathway.

Sometimes a change of POV really helps too. Something a friend helped me with, when I was writing Chapter… 34? I think? was shifting to Bilbo’s POV, one we haven’t seen yet. I had initially written that whole scene in Thorin’s POV, and it worked okay, but it felt flat. A new perspective and a new frame of thinking can work wonders.

Time jump! Skip ahead a few scenes and write that, write what happens after you have gone through bullet points A to C. Write point D. It will give you some ideas as to how to fill in the intermediary steps. I often write the beginning of a chapter, then the conclusion, and fill in the middle bit at the very last. This happened with Chapter 36, in fact – the final scene I wrote was Sam, Nori, Fili and Kili all storming the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Remember, the reader has no idea which order you wrote in! You don’t have to stick to linear progression if it doesn’t suit you.

Okay, that is all I’m coming up with right now… I really hope it helps!

When Laerophen has learned a little bit about how to actually deal with dwarves, does he sort of shyly go to Bomfris (hoping she’s in one of her good moods) and offer to show her a few of the wood-elven archery tricks? And they snark at each other but eventually fall into a weird friendship that’s like 60% archery competitions, and Laer is so proud the first time she beats him

AWWW THAT IS A PERFECT IDEA. I can see them falling into a bickering sort of friendship, consisting of one-upmanship, snarking and eye-rolling (and unspoken affection, because Bomfris is all ‘urgh emotional display, urgh’ and Laerophen is a bit ‘how do relationships work?’)

What’s your opinion of the four hobbits in the fellowship?

Well, I love all four of them. With all my heart, absolutely. But I’m guessing you’d like more detail? Detail I can do 🙂

Frodo

Okay, so. I have always found Frodo’s character arc just the MOST HEARTBREAKING THING. Here’s a normal Hobbit, a happy Hobbit, who steals mushrooms from Farmer Maggott and loves his home. And he is caught up in this great and terrible thing, and he volunteers with every step he takes to continue on, to see it through. He’s terribly afraid, all the time. And yet he grows – he grows SO MUCH – the Hobbit who sings ‘The Man in the Moon Came Down’ in the Prancing Pony at Bree is not the same one that pities Gollum, or speaks with Faramir. And we see at the end that Frodo has even outgrown Saruman – a Maia. 

“Saruman rose to his feet, and stared at Frodo. There was a strange look in his eyes of mingled wonder and respect and hatred. ‘You have grown, Halfling,’ he said. ‘Yes, you have grown very much. You are wise, and cruel. you have robbed my revenge of sweetness, and now I must go hence in bitterness, in debt to your mercy. I hate it and you! Well, I go and I will trouble you no more. But do not expect me to wish you health and long life. You will have neither. But that is not my doing. I merely foretell.”

And he does this, undergoes this incredible change and horrible, terrifying journey… to save the whole damned world. Yet for all his sacrifice, he cannot even enjoy what he has wrought. He is wounded, he is forever wounded, and he cannot ever heal.

“But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.”

I have a lot of Frodo-feelings.

Sam

HOW I LOVE THEE, MY LION OF THE SHIRE. Shall I ever be over how wonderful Sam is? Calls himself a simple gardener, a social class (or three) below all the other Hobbits, who cannot always understand why things must be as they are – and yet, he never loses sight of what is right. And he never. stops. protecting. Frodo. If not for Sam – his humour, his bravery, his steadfastness, his stubbornness – the Quest would have been over at Cirith Ungol. Heck, probably long before that. His devotion is so vast and all-consuming that it feels like it can’t even be contained by that little body. 

“I don’t know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can’t turn back. It isn’t right to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want – I don’t rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.”

And for goodness’ sake, he has more common sense in his little toe that the rest of the Fellowship put together.

“It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.” 

Sam Gamgee, Samwise the Brave. Accept no substitutes. 

Merry

When someone asked me a zillion years ago who my fave Hobbit was, I couldn’t go past Merry, I just couldn’t. This Hobbit is funny! He is a darn sight wittier than the rest of them in the books (When Lobelia accuses Frodo of being more Brandybuck than Baggins, Merry has the absolute best retort: 

‘It was a compliment,’ said Merry Brandybuck, ‘and so, of course, not true.’)

He’s a smartarse of the first order, sassing Wizards and Kings alike. His first meeting with Theoden is a scream (PIPEWEED oh my god). Later on he has the immortal moment:

“Are we riding far tonight, Gandalf?” asked Merry after a while. “I don’t know how you feel with small rag-tag dangling behind you; but the rag-tag is tired and will be glad to stop dangling and lie down.”
“So you heard that?” said Gandalf. “Don’t let it rankle! Be thankful no longer words were aimed at you. He had his eyes on you. If it is any comfort to your pride, I should say that, at the moment, you and Pippin are more in his thoughts than the rest of us. Who you are; how you came here, and why; what you know; whether you were captured, and if so, how you escaped when all the orcs perished—it is with those little riddles that the great mind of Saruman is troubled. A sneer from him, Meriadoc, is a compliment, if you feel honoured by his concern.”
“Thank you!” said Merry. “But it is a greater honour to dangle at your tail, Gandalf. For one thing, in that position one has a chance of putting a question a second time. Are we riding far tonight?”
Gandalf laughed. “A most unquenchable hobbit! All wizards should have a hobbit or two in their care—to teach them the meaning of the world, and to correct them.”

Yet he never really stops looking after Pip, either. Merry might appear to front up to all these impressive people with a quip, but he’s really just as afraid as all the rest. He endures the abuse at the hands of the Orcs so that they leave his cousin alone. He tries to convince Pippin away from the Palantir (“You’ll get information enough, sooner or later. My dear Pippin, no Took ever beat a Brandybuck for inquisitiveness; but is it this time, I ask you?”), he misses him ferociously when Pippin is taken to Minas Tirith. 

And then, he does the most amazing thing. He and Eowyn kill the Witch-King. The embodiment of fear itself, and they kill him. 

kjashdgflajsfkahsgfkasgdfkajdhgkajsakjshd!!!!

And then he picks himself up, trots into Minas Tirith, and collapses. And his first words upon waking are: “I am hungry. What is the time?”

HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT

Pippin

All the Pippin love. ALL. OF. IT. I adore this beautiful, curious, friendly, happy, clever walking catastrophe, OH SO MUCH. He’s so young, and I think that gets lost sometimes – 29 is not an adult, not amongst Hobbits. He’s young, he’s rich and a bit sheltered, and he has been brought up on tales of adventure and excitement… all that enthusiasm, all that heart! He saves Faramir – without Pippin, Faramir would be dead. And even though his curiosity leads him into all sorts of troublesome situations, it also leads to good things. Pippin is the one who alerts the Mines of Moria, sure – but if Gandalf hadn’t killed the Balrog, would the Dwarves ever had gained back their sacred Halls? Pippin looked into the Palantir, sure – but that forced Sauron’s hand and kept his Eye firmly on the realms of Men (and not his own backyard). 

“We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.”

He, like all the others, is so so afraid. And he pushes on, anyway – and for Pippin, that takes an even greater effort, because he has to fight against the dragging weight of his guilt. He makes friends so EASILY: Bergil, Beregond, Faramir. And? Pippin’s compassion is truly astonishing. He even has pity for Denethor. 

“I wish Merry was here,“ he heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind, even as he watched the enemy come charging to the assault. “Well, well, now at any rate I understand poor Denethor a little better. We might die together, Merry and I, and since die we must, why not? Well, as he is not here, I hope he’ll find an easier end. But now I must do my best.”

Pippin, little Bullroarer, you were always brave. I love him.

So. There we go. I love Hobbits.

Happy image for the day: Baby dwarves in baby bouncers. Tiny baby Stonehelm jiggling in a corner of Thira’s forge while she works. Scowly Wee Thorin bouncing and chewing on his fist in Dwalin’s office. Burbly Thrain reaching for a toy from his perch in the royal quarters. Gimizh knocks his over and tries to roll out of the wreckage.

Oooooh, that’s actually really dangerous – the Gimizh one, I mean. Kids have been injured by bouncers before – got to make sure they’re stable and can’t be knocked over. The free-standing ones are apparently safest, idek, there’s a lot of misinformation. 

I love the rest, though! SUCH CUTE IMAGES. Also, I bet Dwarves make super-safe bouncers that NEVER fall over, with hella toys and dangling rattles and spinny things and all sorts to keep tiny hands entertained.