For this installment of Inside the Writer's Studio we will now turn our attention to physical archetypes, specifically speaking - the starting point of a character that will be augmented / enhanced.
Most transformational stories (not all, to be certain) that I've read usually start out involving an average sized individual of reasonable healthiness, sometimes of less then normal height or body mass (i.e. thin as a rake). I think the reason for this almost stereotypical motif is to help reinforce the impact of the transformation has on the reader - i.e. the radical differential between what the character had been and what they'd become as a reborn being. That it's easier to describe the "growth scene" or "process of growth" probably also goes a long way to explaining why this is the case with so many stories.
However, rather then this - have you (or not, or maybe not yet) used a less then average subject? Perhaps someone who is overweight (perhaps even seriously obese), elderly/aged (w/ age regression as part of the transformation) or physically impaired in some fashion, perhaps wheelchair-bound or lacking some other ability that most people normally take for granted.
Adjunct to this question, does the transformation into a super-superior being automatically equate to making this individual better - or do they become worse in nature? I'm thinking in the terms of how Marvel comics is typified by the concept that the psychological strengths and flaws in person's character eventually lead them to becoming a hero or a villain.
Better or worse than average… hmmm. :-
That's an extremely subjective term.
As far as below average physically, I have had Alysia's future nemesis Nissa start off slightly overweight, but no healthier or less healthy than the norm. And when she got her
strength enhanced… well, it didn't do her moral compass any favors.
I'd also had Kitty-kins all beaten up at first when she first stumbled into Dr. Pughtick's compost pile in The Stray.
And going tangent-esque here… and probably spitting in the face of the dogma in these parts… I'm doin a story where the girl was slender and slight and (GASP!) perfectly happy that way.
And when she starts to grow beyond the average build, she doesn't like it much at all. In fact, there's a chapter where she breaks down in hysterics over it.
It's Cheery Cherry. Y'all might want to give it a peek.
But I think my fave example of physical power and size making one take a turn for the worst would have to be The Amulet of Strength by Morpheus. I thought the comparison of two different subjects getting the same zap was very well done.
I'm fairly sure that I've seen a fair few with overweight girls… I just did one on the addventure of that very nature.
But yeah, the short, cute, wait is usually the one that gets FMG'd… I suppose there probably ought to be some more variety but I'm thinking more in the sub-average… BE stories where the girl starts out with tits bigger than her head are kind of… meh, if a girl starts off as a a bodybuilder - well, that's kind of meh too.
All of the above for me. This is my absolute favorite variant of tf story. The whole idea of going from one extreme to another touches a nerve. Average to superhuman is great, but fat, old, infirm, or awkward to superhuman is transcendent. I have written some in this vein, but I still have a few ideas for more later, if I can just come up with a progression gimmick.
My stories tend to involve girls who are on the slightly plump side. My current heroine (if you can call it "current", given that I haven't worked on it in over a month :-[), Callie, though, is less than average in terms of weight.
As for future stories involving less than average characters, while I wouldn't rule one out, I can't see myself doing anything like that soon.
As a wheelchair user (crip for those who don't care for political correctness ;D) I'd suggest that an able-bodied writer mightfind it hard to write about a disabled character accurately without doing research first.
[quote author=cpbell0033944 link=topic=7537.msg69707#msg69707 date=1214678661]
As a wheelchair user (crip for those who don't care for political correctness ;D) I'd suggest that an able-bodied writer mightfind it hard to write about a disabled character accurately without doing research first.
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I buy that. That is probably one reason you seldom see this theme. In good fiction you want to be fair to your character and give her 3 dimensions rather than make her some stock caricature.
As for accuracy and realism, though, I don't know how many writers in this genre balk at stories just for lack of knowledge. Maybe the ones who post to this board want to sound like they know what they're talking about, but I'd say many a writer doesn't bother with technical details.
I'd also agree with both above, that's a given that you should keep a degree of truism to the character.
Certainly that was the case with how DCM portrayed Slade in his Tetzuko comic.
On the other hand, you don't want to get overly detailed in the minutia of a technical subject, either - otherwise you'll end up having the eyes of your reader glaze over.
To keep the pace of the story going, a general overview works best. Just enough to make it sound plausiable without becoming boring.
[quote author=pelourinho link=topic=7537.msg69761#msg69761 date=1214789569]
I buy that. That is probably one reason you seldom see this theme. In good fiction you want to be fair to your character and give her 3 dimensions rather than make her some stock caricature.
As for accuracy and realism, though, I don't know how many writers in this genre balk at stories just for lack of knowledge. Maybe the ones who post to this board want to sound like they know what they're talking about, but I'd say many a writer doesn't bother with technical details.
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[quote author=AlexG link=topic=7537.msg69769#msg69769 date=1214823332]
I'd also agree with both above, that's a given that you should keep a degree of truism to the character.
Certainly that was the case with how DCM portrayed Slade in his Tetzuko comic.
On the other hand, you don't want to get overly detailed in the minutia of a technical subject, either - otherwise you'll end up having the eyes of your reader glaze over.
To keep the pace of the story going, a general overview works best. Just enough to make it sound plausiable without becoming boring.
[/quote]
Actually I liked the way DCM portrayed Slade as a disabled man. Of course, he's hardly typical, but then again, we're not all comic-strip bad-guys. ;D 