“Luke, I am your father!”

I’m trying to decide whether to have a Darth Vader moment. I have a character who is looking for his dad in Book 3 (of Dindi). I have another character, who showed up in a completely different context in Book 1. Should they be related?

Disadvantages:

* My original idea was the dad would be from a particular tribe (not the same as the existing character)

* He also dances the wrong Chroma – I would have to either change his Chroma or change something else, to make it consistent

* Too many coincidences might seem hokey

* Dad was supposed to be real jerk, and this character is moderately heroic

Advantages:

* Tightens the story by connecting previously disconnected story threads.

* Reduces the number of characters

* A character who is sometimes a jerk and sometimes moderately heroic is more interesting

I think the last point is swaying me toward doing it. I’d probably want to end up redeeming the dad anyway — I’m just a softy that way — so why not save myself the trouble of agonizing over it and go in from the start with the knowledge this is a flawed rather than evil character?

Tara Maya

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sraasch Reply

I, personally, love when stories come full circle like that. It makes me really impressed that the author tied up even seemingly-small character lines and made the little things important. I say, go for it!

Tara Maya Reply

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback. 🙂

Sarah Jensen Reply

I agree. Tightening up loose ends is great. I’m trying to do that with my novel as well. Having to rewrite most of book two.
I love your blog, btw.

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