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Musings on Wit/Smart-asses and Solveig's history
Finished The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison, which includes The Stainless Steel Rat, The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, and The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World. Had a conversation with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kijjohnson last night about some of the thoughts I've had lately re: writing smart-asses, which have spun out from reading the adventures of the irrepressible Mr. DeGriz. Smart-asses exhibit: 1) confidence (sometimes excessive), 2) humor (occasionally a cynical, black humor). Whatever their flavor of humor, they must be the funniest person in the room. These requirements necessitate in turn: 3) someone to bear the brunt of the wit of the smart-ass. Benedick needs Beatrice, epicyclical's Draco needs the Gryffindors in general and Ron Weasley in particular to bear the brunt of his humor ("Oh yeah, that's brilliant, a typical Gryffindor plan: 'Everyone on the count of three!'"). Jim DeGriz needs to feel superior to humankind in general.
So who should Jack be sharpening his wits upon? Solveig? Mortals in general? Not Ingrid. I think he's going to have . . . not exactly a soft spot where Ingrid is concerned. But he never, never, never will make that little six-year old girl the butt of a joke.
Kij and I talked about the possibility that Solveig might have a boyfriend, perhaps a relationship that is cautious, but she thinks "might develop into something." See Jack annihilate Mr. Potential Boyfriend. I decided pretty quickly I don't like that idea.
But that led to another train of thought: what about Ingrid's father? I decided that I don't want Ingrid's father to still be in Solveig's life, but not because he died. Instead . . . well, whatever happened, it ended badly. Maybe he got cold feet when she told him she was pregnant. I don't think Solveig's the one-night-stand type, but at any rate, he didn't stick around, and he is not involved with Solveig or Ingrid at all at this point. (Maybe she found out, too late, that he was actually married?) At any rate, Solveig's been disappointed in love, which is part of the heart-of-stone thing. So she tells herself that she's raising Ingrid now, and she doesn't have the time or inclination to opening herself to letting her heart get stomped again.
And then Jack comes along.
What will Jack be to Solveig? Her smart-ass tormenter (if I can pull it off, and I'm not entirely sure I can), but other than that . . . what? Her lover? I do NOT want to turn this into a dime-a-dozen romantic novel. I like romantic novels . . . sometimes . . . selectively. But I want this to have more . . . gravitas than just, the chick meets the guy, they meet cute, they have a sparring relationship, they fall into bed together. Oh yeah. And he's immortal.
What I'm doing at this point in planning is chewing over the developing characters in the context of a vague idea of what I think some of the themes might turn out to be. I am getting to know Solveig, a mother, an architect, an ISTJ, who sketches pictures of her daughter, who listens to eclectic music. And there's something there about choosing the heart-of-flesh over the heart-of-stone (ice). And there's this guy, Jack. What's his story, anyway? And why does he want to hijack the plans for the Ice Palace?
And what, for goodness sakes, are the fish up to?
Peg, going off to think some more
kijjohnson last night about some of the thoughts I've had lately re: writing smart-asses, which have spun out from reading the adventures of the irrepressible Mr. DeGriz. Smart-asses exhibit: 1) confidence (sometimes excessive), 2) humor (occasionally a cynical, black humor). Whatever their flavor of humor, they must be the funniest person in the room. These requirements necessitate in turn: 3) someone to bear the brunt of the wit of the smart-ass. Benedick needs Beatrice, epicyclical's Draco needs the Gryffindors in general and Ron Weasley in particular to bear the brunt of his humor ("Oh yeah, that's brilliant, a typical Gryffindor plan: 'Everyone on the count of three!'"). Jim DeGriz needs to feel superior to humankind in general.So who should Jack be sharpening his wits upon? Solveig? Mortals in general? Not Ingrid. I think he's going to have . . . not exactly a soft spot where Ingrid is concerned. But he never, never, never will make that little six-year old girl the butt of a joke.
Kij and I talked about the possibility that Solveig might have a boyfriend, perhaps a relationship that is cautious, but she thinks "might develop into something." See Jack annihilate Mr. Potential Boyfriend. I decided pretty quickly I don't like that idea.
But that led to another train of thought: what about Ingrid's father? I decided that I don't want Ingrid's father to still be in Solveig's life, but not because he died. Instead . . . well, whatever happened, it ended badly. Maybe he got cold feet when she told him she was pregnant. I don't think Solveig's the one-night-stand type, but at any rate, he didn't stick around, and he is not involved with Solveig or Ingrid at all at this point. (Maybe she found out, too late, that he was actually married?) At any rate, Solveig's been disappointed in love, which is part of the heart-of-stone thing. So she tells herself that she's raising Ingrid now, and she doesn't have the time or inclination to opening herself to letting her heart get stomped again.
And then Jack comes along.
What will Jack be to Solveig? Her smart-ass tormenter (if I can pull it off, and I'm not entirely sure I can), but other than that . . . what? Her lover? I do NOT want to turn this into a dime-a-dozen romantic novel. I like romantic novels . . . sometimes . . . selectively. But I want this to have more . . . gravitas than just, the chick meets the guy, they meet cute, they have a sparring relationship, they fall into bed together. Oh yeah. And he's immortal.
What I'm doing at this point in planning is chewing over the developing characters in the context of a vague idea of what I think some of the themes might turn out to be. I am getting to know Solveig, a mother, an architect, an ISTJ, who sketches pictures of her daughter, who listens to eclectic music. And there's something there about choosing the heart-of-flesh over the heart-of-stone (ice). And there's this guy, Jack. What's his story, anyway? And why does he want to hijack the plans for the Ice Palace?
And what, for goodness sakes, are the fish up to?
Peg, going off to think some more
no subject
It is pretty horrid, I think. And that's one of the things that could bring it into romance clichédom, too.
As long as the kid isn't too cute, you'll be fine.
no subject
Why not take the Draco route so to speak and have Jack torment Mortals in general but Solveig in particular. He's intrigued by her as well as drawn to her and Ingrid. Maybe they sort of have Mulder/Scully thing going on. There's sexual tension between them but it's not acted upon.
And what, for goodness sakes, are the fish up to?
Whatever they're up to, I hope it doesn't involve a quern that grinds salt, or something like that. Then again, Great Lakes area fish wouldn't do the salt thing, would they?
Perhaps if you dream of the fishpond out in front of the DNR building at the State Fair, you could ask the fish there. They might know. Not sure they'd tell, but they might. Either that, or perhaps the steel moose knows.
Re: And what, for goodness sakes, are the fish up to?
Jack's deal
Re: Jack's deal
no subject
no subject
Jack vs. Solveig's (putative) boyfriend -- too sitcom.
Jack vs. Solveig -- not necessarily likely to lead to her eventually falling in love with him (except in a cheeseball romance-novel "I hate you! I hate you! I... love you?" kind of way), although he might (if frustrated by some plot complication) snap at her and then sincerely apologize. (In fact, if he really meant the apology and she realized how rare this was for him, that might turn her toward him.) I can definitely see him teasing her a lot -- but not being awful to her.
Jack vs. All Mortals -- I could actually see this, in a general disdain sense. He might, too, hold mortals at arm's length because he knows he's different and he has to hide his immortality somehow.
If I heard Jack slicing into someone (present or not) with his razor wit, I'd be highly entertained and yet feel somewhat guilty about that. Maybe Solveig would have a similar reaction?
I wouldn't worry about the romance element. A good love story is a good story, at its heart, and you've got enough other things going on in this one that I don't think the romance will overwhelm the other elements.
- Darice