The Everlast #00.3

(B. Schatz)

The Everlast
Created by B. Schatz

“Brave New Something”

#03 – Of Dreaming and Dreamers
(Part 03 of a 05 part series detailing the pre-production of B.’s 2005 NaNoWriMo contribution.)

When The Everlast sailed into my mind, it was just an idea: a means by which to transport the characters, whoever they may be, to all sorts of fantastic places.

However, there was a big problem with this premise: I had no characters.

If you’ve read any of my other work (I’m almost betting that you have, but that is neither here nor there), you’ll probably know that the main character is almost always me, in some way, shape or form. Now most times, this is not a conscious choice, but as I write, my mannerisms naturally come out when I’m writing the teenage characters that I tend to deal with.

But with this project, I wanted to have something different. I wanted the main characters to be other people, as far away from me as I can write them.

It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve begun the process, and all of the characters that appear in the first act have all been put into place. While I can’t divulge too much information about each of the characters (as much of that would be quite spoilerific), but I can give you the quick and dirty.

I'm not going to pretend like I'm doing something amazingly different from everything that's been done before. There will be, very early on, a hero figure, who will essentially know nothing about the new world that he steps into. He'll be a child, and there'll be something cooky going on with his parents. Who knows? They may very well be dead. (I actually know about the parents, but I don't want to trot out all the candy.)

There will be one character, who will serve as the catalyst of change. You know the one: they show up, open the gate to the new world, and provide us with an insiders perspective.

There will be several characters with what I hope are charming names and personalities. Right now, they're in place to fill out The Everlast, but they will play more important parts as things go on.

But by and large, there is nothing too terribly special about the general characters. However, I do plan to use a bit of subtle characterization just to make them more believable and (un)likeable.

And, of course, there will be many, many people who will populate the story, but I do like to have so semblance of wonder when it comes to my stories, so you’ll have to wait until they appear in November.

Be wary of The Dreamers…

Magnanimously yours,

-B. Schatz