Magic Under Construction: Tribe Chapter 6
Sep. 22nd, 2010 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinExtreme Spoiler Warning: In the space below, I am going to be writing/sketching out the remaining segments of the current chapter of Tribe: Fantasy in Miniature. This is "read at your own risk", especially as I'm not going chronologically... if you choose to watch my progress here you might end up seeing end details out of context. If you'd rather wait until the story's completed, you can still come back here and see the little notes I will have left explaining some of my decisions and commenting on the process.
Started: 9/22/2010, 4:00 PM
Status: Writing (5:20 PM)
[I generally have the ending firmly in mind when I start writing a tribe chapter, which might seem odd as they're sort of predisposed to be shaggy dog stories. I tend to get lost somewhere between the beginning and there, so I'm starting at a point near the end and working more or less backwards to where I am. I might do a lot more tribe writing like this in the future.
Below I'm going to be posting individual segments as I write them, with the word count noted above each one. Many people have assumed the arbitrary word count is why I keep fizzling out on tribe, but it's very easy to hit a specific mark. I could, in fact, take any segment I post here and make it exactly 333 words with very little effort, but I prefer to wait to finalize that in case I find I need to squeeze something in somewhere.]
[330 words]
"Do you know of the Firebird?" Ivan asked. "Have you ever heard the story?"
"That's a musical, right?" Ed said, searching his memory. "An opera?"
"It is a ballet that you are thinking of," Ivan said. "A Russian ballet. But it is the story behind it of which I am concerned."
"I didn't know ballets had stories," Ed said.
"Oh, yes," Ivan said. "You have, I am sure, seen an animated version of Swan Lake or The Nutcracker at some point. The story of the Firebird is older than the ballet. It is in fact not one story. In the taxonomy of folktales, firebirds are not just a species or a genus but a whole order unto themselves. You see, there is the firebird: a fabulous creature who brings great power or fortune to whoever possesses her. There is the bad man... the king or the sorcerer or the robber... who has taken the creature by force or trickery, and there is the good man... the prince who rides in on a wolf, or a horse, or an ass, and sets the creature free. No good end can come to the bad man in this story, but the prince, the hero, profits greatly from his act of kindness."
"Does this have anything to do with Liv?" Ed asked. "Because I'm pretty sure she's not a..."
"Quiet," Ivan said. "You see, it doesn't matter what kind of creature you think she is. All that matters... in this town, at least... is what kind of story this is. You see, the story of the Firebird is not a story about a bird, it is a story about a fantastic creature who is enslaved and then set free. This story has a hero. It has a villain. It has consequences for them both."
"Are you saying you can't use her, then?" Ed asked.
"Safely, you mean?"
"Yeah, I suppose... safely."
"Of course," Ivan said. "I am, after all, the hero of this story."
Started: 9/22/2010, 4:00 PM
Status: Writing (5:20 PM)
[I generally have the ending firmly in mind when I start writing a tribe chapter, which might seem odd as they're sort of predisposed to be shaggy dog stories. I tend to get lost somewhere between the beginning and there, so I'm starting at a point near the end and working more or less backwards to where I am. I might do a lot more tribe writing like this in the future.
Below I'm going to be posting individual segments as I write them, with the word count noted above each one. Many people have assumed the arbitrary word count is why I keep fizzling out on tribe, but it's very easy to hit a specific mark. I could, in fact, take any segment I post here and make it exactly 333 words with very little effort, but I prefer to wait to finalize that in case I find I need to squeeze something in somewhere.]
[330 words]
"Do you know of the Firebird?" Ivan asked. "Have you ever heard the story?"
"That's a musical, right?" Ed said, searching his memory. "An opera?"
"It is a ballet that you are thinking of," Ivan said. "A Russian ballet. But it is the story behind it of which I am concerned."
"I didn't know ballets had stories," Ed said.
"Oh, yes," Ivan said. "You have, I am sure, seen an animated version of Swan Lake or The Nutcracker at some point. The story of the Firebird is older than the ballet. It is in fact not one story. In the taxonomy of folktales, firebirds are not just a species or a genus but a whole order unto themselves. You see, there is the firebird: a fabulous creature who brings great power or fortune to whoever possesses her. There is the bad man... the king or the sorcerer or the robber... who has taken the creature by force or trickery, and there is the good man... the prince who rides in on a wolf, or a horse, or an ass, and sets the creature free. No good end can come to the bad man in this story, but the prince, the hero, profits greatly from his act of kindness."
"Does this have anything to do with Liv?" Ed asked. "Because I'm pretty sure she's not a..."
"Quiet," Ivan said. "You see, it doesn't matter what kind of creature you think she is. All that matters... in this town, at least... is what kind of story this is. You see, the story of the Firebird is not a story about a bird, it is a story about a fantastic creature who is enslaved and then set free. This story has a hero. It has a villain. It has consequences for them both."
"Are you saying you can't use her, then?" Ed asked.
"Safely, you mean?"
"Yeah, I suppose... safely."
"Of course," Ivan said. "I am, after all, the hero of this story."