Juggling Villains

My current problem with organizing my story is that I have two villains. And they are by no means equal. There is this hope, once the protagonist vanquishes the larger foe, that the lesser one will hold no more terror.

What is a Lizard compared with a stallion?

But this would then mean the terrifically poetic ending I have found for the lesser would be something like overkill.

~ ~ ~

I think there is a tendency in some genres to consider lesser foes as nothing, once larger obstacles (or evils) have been overcome… but this isn’t very true-to-life, is it?

Unless one was very confused or dishonest to begin with, a mere revelation or lucky streak at the climax isn’t going to remove previously insurmountable difficulties.

Writing is good for me. I’m beginning to know what to do with this.

~ ~ ~

(And on a side note, I may be posting less than in the last month or two– I’ve been doing nearly daily posts– as I knuckle down to ironing this project. I have a real opportunity coming up in September, and I think I’d be a poor steward if I didn’t do what I can to make the most of it.)

Just put me in Bloglines or something, if you’re afraid of wasting your time. I thought I was going to swear off blogging in November too– and it’s obvious that didn’t happen.

2 thoughts on “Juggling Villains

  1. Hi. RE: posts on my site. The archives were VERY far down in the left hand column. I’ve moved them up so they are easier to find. Thanks for coming by!

    Wondering why you are choosing to have your hero vanquish the more difficult villain first? Doesn’t him defeating the worse one first make him defeating the second anticlimatic? Not knowing exactly what you are writing, it’s hard to say… so it’s just a question.

  2. It’s a legitimate question. The reason it happens is because the book is based on a folktale, and that is the structure it came with.

    I’ve left much of the structure intact, and it’s created some interesting problems to solve– the good kind that are supposed to make one think. Like this one.

    I was ready to shelve the project for a while and Jay (my husband) didn’t want me to. “You’ll figure it out,” he kept saying.

    “You think that because you aren’t the one trying to write it,” I said. But… he might be right.

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