Getting ready to do some noveling

[capri0mni]

... Not actually writing the specific words, of course -- that will begin in a little less than 12 hours -- but just figuring out what my opening scenerio will be.

My general idea for the story comes from a book on ancient "Santa Claus" traditions; the particular tradition that caught my eye was that Nicholas (with the help of his servant slave Black Pete) stuffs the really bad kids into his sack and takes them away until the following Christmas. This post, from a couple of years ago, confirmed the existance of the tradition, and that it's not really all that ancient, but is still within living memory.

In my story, I'll be melding Nicholas and Black Pete into one character (which I think they were, before Europe was Christianized). And this is where "Santa" gets his elves -- the really bad kids are forced to make the toys for the really good kids before they're allowed to go back home (sort of like a juvenile detention labor camp). The story will be told from the point of view of one of those really bad kids, and will be set in modern times.

But -- there's one thing that I can't decide on, hence the following poll:

[Poll #857375]

Comments

[scarfman]

I voted for "everyone's different", because I think that'd serve the story best. (Of course, I write comedies.) Which do you think would serve the story best?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I won't really know what the story is, beyond the opening scenerio I described above, until I start writing it. But how the family reacts will determine the opening scenes (aka the first day's writing).

In part, I think the posting of the poll is part of my own way to answer the questions -- just getting all the options into words helps me work through the options.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Neeeeat.

All the options you've listed depend on what the story is really about. Do they live in a world where Santa is simultaneously loved and feared like a vengeful god or a usually-benevolent dictator? Do people live in mundane reality to the point where they're in denial of their own observations when magical things happen?

I vote for people knowing he's gone but not knowing where. Don't go for the George scenario, one more alteration to reality, if the main thrust of the fantasy doesn't need it. Show or imply that the police are looking for him, there's an Amber Alert out, and his face is on milk cartons. Then again, if you don't want him to be constantly trying to escape out of worry for his family, it's not an unheard-of trope for his family to have been made to believe an alternate explanation.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Do they live in a world where Santa is simultaneously loved and feared like a vengeful god or a usually-benevolent dictator? Do people live in mundane reality to the point where they're in denial of their own observations when magical things happen?

They live in a fictional version of our own late-20th/early-21st century world, where the stores begin stocking Christmas merchandise in mid-October, every mall has hired actors to play Santa and the elves in the center court, and any kid over the age of ten who still believes Santa to be real is thought to have a bit of a problem. So, yeah, it would be a world with Amber Alerts and police searches...

But the story will really be about this kid's grudging transformation, through work, from a selfish, self-justifying bully (not the kind of kid who'd worry about his family) into someone generous and kind, if not exactly sweet (can someone be 'salty'? ;)). And the setting will be the inside of "Santa's" workshop. Really, I don't expect this kid would have much time to even think about what's going on back home, but I know the reader will be, so I have to think of something. One other option I'm considering is that his family, neighbors, etc., know he's gone, but are really, secretly relieved, so any search they do for him is rather half-hearted and doesn't last very long.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

(not the kind of kid who'd worry about his family)

Maybe becoming aware of what his family must be going through, and realising that he cares for them enough that he doesn't want them to worry, would be part of the transformation. They're suffering, and at first he doesn't care, but later he does.

One other option I'm considering is that his family, neighbors, etc., know he's gone, but are really, secretly relieved, so any search they do for him is rather half-hearted and doesn't last very long.

Serious Roald Dahl territory there, making them that uncaring about their own kid. ^^ This would work if you wanted to drive home the point that he was bad because he was raised among some almost unrealistically bad adults.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Serious Roald Dahl territory there, making them that uncaring about their own kid. ^^

Yeah. Or Lemony Snicket ;-)

...Maybe just the littlest kids in the neighborhood -- the ones whom he bullied the most -- would be realived. The Nicholas-napping would be double-edged, then: a reward for all the good kids who've suffered, as well as a punishment for the inflictor.

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

I voted for each person having their own explanation, because I think there's the most potential for comedy in that.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Both you and scarfman envision this story as a comedy.

...Interesting.

[samantha2074.livejournal.com]

I don't see it as a comedy per se, but I think some dark humor might fit in well with the premise, adding a satiric twist. However, it can be hard to tell a lot from a synopsis. I'll just have to wait for the finished version. Good luck!

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I'll just have to wait for the finished version.

That makes two of us! ;-)

Good luck!

Thank you. Personally, I think it will end up being a combination of "reality does not compute" and "different for everyone." Not so much because of the comedic potential (though that's certainly there), but because that seems to just be the way the world works.

I kinda like the idea of the little kids in the neighborhood, who still believe in "Santa" knowing (or surmising) the truth, while the Grown-ups do their searches and Amber Alerts.

BTW, although the story is set in modern times, and the public, commercial, Santa is red-suited and sentimentalized, the real Nicholas that kidnaps my protagonist is more like the wild man of old.