Now that the entirety of The Glimmerstone Enigma has been published, I feel like I can share more about some of the story evolution and specifics that I shied away from earlier. Of course, I’ll continue to avoid spoilers for those who aren’t fully caught up.
For anyone familiar with my journey, you’ll recall that ‘author’ was not a skill set present in my wheelhouse until less than two years ago. For those who may be newer to the Stack, I won’t rehash the Bryn Norel origin story, but you can find it here.
What I want to share today gets at the heart of one of the major creative hurdles any fiction author faces when they first sit down to write—who is the story about?
I think most of us start with the concept of a high-level plot, but it’s no secret that one of the ingredients for memorable fiction is memorable and relatable characters, and this stops many would-be authors in their tracks—How many? Who are they? What makes them interesting?
Obviously, the larger the cast, the greater the challenge, so many writers keep it simple the first time out, sticking to one main character that often takes on a personality very similar to the author themselves (or who they wish they were), and there’s nothing wrong with this approach, particularly when a writer is trying to find their authorial feet.
In the case of The Unexpected Vanguard series, I started with seven main characters and a handful of significant side characters, a fairly tall order. So, am I some literary ingenue with previously undiscovered mad character development skills? Absolutely not. Those who know me in real life would tell you I’m ruthlessly practical, bordering on lazy, always trying to think my way to a lower-friction, lower-effort solution. So, where did I find the collection of weirdos you’ve all come to love in the story?
The answer lies in the common thread that runs through many dimensions of my fantasy writing—Dungeons and Dragons. More specifically, in this case, I ripped my characters straight from my current tabletop game.
I have a group of friends that gets together once every three weeks for gaming sessions that started before COVID. It’s a definite highlight of my social calendar. In fact, we’re playing tonight (Yay!).
When I was first considering trying my hand at fiction writing, I thought it would be cool to immortalize the characters my friends had developed and lived once every three weeks for lo these many years, directly into my story.
With their blessing, I instantly had my ensemble cast, a blend of each of them as people and their game persona that I’ve had the benefit of observing for quite a while—the way they think and speak, the quirks they consciously or unconsciously incorporate into the characters, their motivations and fears.
I’ve definitely taken a degree of creative license here and there, and even had to change their names in two cases to fit the narrative. My friend Marc, being very new to D&D when we started all those years ago, decided to name his elven ranger “Segolas”. Now, I couldn’t have good old JRR rolling over in his grave, so I had to rename him to something a bit less obvious and landed on Segwyn.
Similarly, my friend Julie, who happens to be French and also a beginner, named her halfling bard Sabine, which similarly didn’t really fit the world I was building. After seeing a documentary on the pirate ‘Black Sam’ Bellamy and the discovery of his flagship, I knew I had to go with ‘Whydah’ (pronounced wi-DAH), which, of course, must be delivered with a Boston drawl. For those unfamiliar with the story of the wreck and its treasure, you can find it here.
While the world of Venn, and the plot are all mine, the characters in the book are my interpretations of their creations, down to Tsuta’s neurodivergent tics and social awkwardness, and Lunish’s imposter syndrome, the latter originating from the player rather than the character. Another D&D beginner, she always worried she didn’t know enough about the game to play it properly. In fact, the scene in Chapter 16 where our little druid gnome prepares to attack the Sklir with a tiny carpenter’s hammer is a direct callback to one of her first battles on the tabletop, as was the fireside intervention a couple of chapters later, where the rest of us tried to convince her to embrace different tactics in the future.
Even the more prominent side characters in the story - Grym and Glamos - were my twin sons’ characters from our attempt to introduce D&D to our children as a substitute for smartphones—a longer tale worthy of its own post.
So, if you’re an author searching for character inspiration for your own story, look around you; they may be closer than you think.
For those who have been paying attention, you’ll recall that I’m a player, not the DM in this campaign. That means my own character is also in the story. Any guesses?
Until next time,
Bryn
To dive into the first tale featuring this motley crew, start reading The Glimmerstone Enigma, the first book of The Unexpected Vanguard trilogy here.
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