NaNoWriMo Day 1

This first day I pretty much was just describing to myself what I want to do with my novel. It helps me think it out as it goes.

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They say to write about something you know well. For me, that generally means non-fiction topics and ideas. I could find ways to work some of those ideas into stories, and probably will, but for my first completed fiction project, I wanted to go with something that I'm entirely familiar with. For me, that's superheroes.

I've been a long time comic reader. I've read a ton of superhero comics. So when it comes to fictional genres, there is no other that I'm more familier with. So for a novel, it just makes sense for me to start with superheroes and there are a few ideas in particular that I want to play with.

I'm interested in taking some of how we as consumers interact with heroes and placing those effects in their world. Sort of putting the things that have an effect on the popularity and publishing of a character and causing it to effect their lives.

The first element is that a heroes popularity is the primary force determining their publishing schedule. And some characters are so unpopular that they've disappeared completely. I would like to translate this to my book's world by having hero's popularity determine their existence. Hero's that people no longer have faith in simply fade from existence. As the public believes in them less, their abilities lessen. The heroes who don't die in battle, appear to die by ceasing to exist altogether.

Just how much the public believes in a particular character is based on the public's fears. This is what also keeps villains alive. The villains that tap into the societies' most prevelant fears are those that remain alive and are most powerful. And the heroes most suited to stop them, are those that are strongest and remain in existence. I'll probably tinker with this somewhat as I go, but that's general what I'm looking for.

There's an interesting implication of that dynamic that leads to another idea I want to play with. The heroes that are able to change and adapt to the fear of the moment are those that survive and last. But others work best in a particular era and for a particular fear. This is sort of found out when they fade away.

I really want to address that idea that you can still tell interesting stories with certain heroes, if you are willing to make them a period piece. The way I'll demonstrate this is by what happens to heroes that fade away.

My primary characters will be those that have been around the longest. They will decide that they've finally had enough of heroes fading away, and want to find out what exactly has happened to them. The reason they do this, is because a certain hero keeps coming back throughout time. He has no specific memory of where he went when faded away, but he knows that he wasn't dead and just someplace different. They determine that the other heroes must also be someplace different. I'm leaning towards making the constantly reappearing hero King Arthur.

What they discover, is that when heroes fade away, they are actually sent to another universe, this universe contains sections that are perpetually stuck within the eras which these heroes operate best. There is some overlap to these parts that regular folks aren't aware of, but that both the threats, and heroes are able to cross over. Unsurpisingly, this allows for "team-ups" and "crossovers."

So the world where heroes are spawned is a sort of proving/training ground for heroes who are moved to perpetually protect these sections of the other world. Interestingly, more sections are added to this second world as the first world continues to age and progress forward. I like the balance this creates because the heroes might feel uncomfortable about being "used" in this training and development process. But at the same time, the second world appears to be spawned by the phases/eras that the first goes through. It's hard to claim that either is primary or of more importance than the others.

So the discovery of this whole dynamic, this larger universe and the heroes place within it will be the story of this book. I don't think I'm going to answer the question of whether this dynamic between the two has been created by some outside force or has risen up autonomously. That answer isn't particularly important. It might be fodder for further stories if I have reason to come back to this idea, but it's not important to what I'm trying to do with this book.

What's interesting is what this does for the heroes who remain on the first world and change to fit the threat of the times. Since they do this almost unconciously, they aren't sure of their eventual fate and role in the greater scheme of things, including whether they'll ever move to the other world. But this knew knowledge does give them some sense of greater purpose. They realize that the heroes they work with are not just working to save the lives on this particular world, but also whatever part of the other world that they end up within. So the heroes that appear to be stuck on the first world, take on a mentorship-driven approach to new heroes, in addition to their own heroic efforts.

Interestingly, this doesn't explain why King Arthur keeps coming back and forth. I'm going to leave that one open because it could be fodder for further material, or it could be that what King Arthur does is needed by every age. For this book, I'll leave that open to the reader to decide, while leaving it open for myself to possibly return to.

There's a lot of mechanics to get across with what's actually occuring between these universes and I might use something outside the primary narrative to get that across. I'm thinking of using excerpts from a fake magazine or scholarly article (written well after the heroes discover the other world) that describes what is happening. Then I'll sprinkle in bits and pieces of it after the main chapters of the book.

I also want to flesh out some of the heroes that have disappeared. So I plan on featuring very short stories featuring some of them after the main chapters. These should mostly be 3 pages or less. But they will be featuring the heroes at their peak, which means that at the end of the book, it won't be clear just which world they took place on.

The history of first world will be based on our own and the characters will reflect our own. So, in order to give myself a good base to start from, I should probably create a sort of history of the heroes on this first world. It's more just a background for myself to pull from rather than something that might be in the book, but I want to have some picture of the world I'm working in. I should probably also create the article, or at least excerpts, that describes what's happening with these two worlds. I also should define what makes a superhero on these worlds, and will probably do that through an essay supposedly written by someone within the world. So that's what I'll be doing next.

An Essay Regarding Superheroes

What makes a superhero. Special abilities beyond that of a normal human can play a role, but because the supervillain also exists, that can't be all. There are also superheroes that don't have special abilities, so that can't even be considered a requirement of being a superhero.

Given that superheroes on our world tend to have longer lives than others, and many don't appear to have natural deaths but have faded out of existence, there seems to be some biological difference between heroes and the average human. And although scientists have been unable isolate what that biological difference is, and whether it is born into heroes or a product of their personal lives or gaining abilities, it does seem to tie their fate to what the rest of humanity believes about them.

Superheroes that we believe are capable of defending us appear not to age and remain powerful longer than a regular human's lifespan. Whereas heroes for whom the villains and fears of the day seems to have passed them by, existence seems to just fade away and they are never heard from again, no matter how popular their hey day.

But while scientists insist there is some biological reason for this phenomena, they aren't sure just how soon, if ever, they will be able to discover it. In the meantime, we are left define "superheroes" by shared traits that psychologists have attempted to gather through observation and interviews. Because while many may behave heroically, one calls to mind the fireman rushing into the burining building, there is clearly a difference for the "superheroes."

The first trait is an almost pathological devotion to their cause. This doesn't mean that these heroes don't have personal lives and even occupations, surely many must, but all those are in service of their mission to protect others. Their dedication is often reflected by humans, but never surpassed. And they have the mental makeup to handle the burden of facing seemingly insurmountable threats.

The second trait is extraordinary ability. Even those that don't have special powers, but could be considered "normal" humans, often demonstrate physical and mental ability beyond the capacity of 99.99% of their peers. They have comined this, with the first trait, to become something beyond the rest of humanity.

The third trait is that they tend to operate outside of traditional systems. They are not often trained law enforcement, soldiers, or any other group used to address villainy within society. They tend to work towards similar goals but aren't held to the same rules, partly because it might not be possible to do so without the assistance of other heroes who couldn't be held to those rules. It's impossible to deny that humanity is permitted to operate without interference and rather assistance from these heroes. Nothing could be done to stop them if they desired it to be different.