Wasn't that a weird comparison? I was just reading a fanfiction where one of the main characters is tortured and goes into a coma, so that was kind of sticking into my head while writing it.
So I've been thinking a lot about both the novel Jamie and I will be writing, and the sequel to Caged. I was originally planning for it to be called Between the Lines, but I'm not so sure. It's going to be a trilogy though; it's titled the Angelic Threnody. The titles are Caged, Between the Lines (may change), and Negative Zero. Then begins the next trilogy - same characters, different plot that connects to the last one. It's going to be six books in all. Then I might write a prequel, writing Altrius's past all the way up until Caged starts, because's he's an extremely complex character and you have to really understand his past to understand him.
The thing I love most about writing Altrius is the fact that he's so mentally unstable, enough to say that he's quite honestly insane. It's just so interesting to write about his decent into eventual insanity.
I've done a role-play with my friend Larysa where we switched off characters for a while - she used Altrius and I used her character Julie. It was strange, but I knew Julie enough to managed with only a few mistakes. But she had no idea what to do with Altrius.
I think the reason for that is the fact that Altrius has so many personalities. For each different situation he's in, he'll put on a different identity that best suits him at the moment. So technically...even when something seems out of character for him, it's not. Because he's just using one of his different guises at the moment. Which sounds really confusing unless you're the one that's writing and interacting with him on a daily basis.
Here's one of my favorite parts of Caged, and what I'm going to use to wrap up this post with:
Nothing
felt right anymore. Over and over again, he thought about what he was
supposed to do and say in order to keep up the act of normalcy. He
went through the motions expected of him—the actions that were
expected of Altrius Dial, demon extraordinaire...Altrius Dial,
bloodthirsty vampire...Altrius Dial, misused freak...or whatever part
he wanted to play that day.
Which
side of you is the real one?
Which
side indeed. Which one of his guises was the real him? He wasn't sure
anymore. The mercenary? The psychopath? The goofball? The manic
depressive? The frightened child? The criminal mastermind? The
monstrous demon? The victimized human?
For all intents and purposes,
he was whatever he felt like being. He had invented so many
identities over the years, and had lived under them so long that
Mirabelle's question had caused him no small degree of anxiety.
At the heart of everything,
what was he?
God, could you just stop being so freaking good at writing since, you know, you're only 13! 14? How old are you?
ReplyDeleteHaha.
-Kas
...Kas, I was 13 when you met me. I'll be turning 16 in exactly one month, on July 27th. xD!
ReplyDeleteSo it's not that bad haha. I'm just an exceptionally good writer when it comes to mentally unstable characters.
But thanks for the compliment! It's much appreciated.
-Cori loves you all <3
God, that sounds so good, Cori! I am seriously fascinated by Altrius. I have characters in Death List that don't cope too well with everything that goes on (I'll post about that eventually) and they descend into madness a little, but nothing as intriguing and extreme as Altrius's. Actually, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it yet, so if you could give me a few pointers on insanity (such a weird thing to ask) sometime that would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteAltrius has what you would call the Murderous Insanity. He becomes more and more obsessed with blood and killing, and sincerely enjoys it. In the beginning of the novel he kills more out of necessity than actual pleasure, but as the story goes on he loses his sanity a little bit each time he kills. It's a very gradual process that I'm trying to make as realistic as possible.
ReplyDeleteHe gets a little better later on, because it's something living inside of his head that's making him go completely nuts, but he never recovers completely.
-Cori