Reaction -> Dilemma -> ...Indecision.

If you're reading this, it means I probably accidentally hit "Publish Post" instead of "Save Now".

Being open to advice or criticism is a very important life lesson, and much of one's character formation should be about learning to graciously accept advice and learning how to apply it (the extent to which this trait is developed in today's society is a whole 'nuther topic, for a whole 'nuther day). This is especially true for the aspiring author or learning writer.

But one thing that I have trouble grasping is this: how do I know which pieces of advice to take to heart and which to discard?

To let you know where this is going:

During my writing class, the instructor and other students have been giving me lots of advice—very good advice, really—on ways to improve Space Pirates (and if you did not see that coming as the topic of the post, then... well... then you are clearly not even remotely clairvoyant). So far during the class, we have been covering the classical plot structure and bringing in explanations of the Plot Point decisions, events that shape those decisions, character reactions, etc. During the previous class meeting we covered the climax of the novel, and our homework explained how the focal character fought the protagonist (intellectually or physically), the loose ends to tie up, and the denouement.

(The rest of this article assumes you've read Space Pirates, so you may be lost or spoiled if you have not already. Well, I don't really consider anything that happens in Episode I a "spoiler", as the "twists" are mere trivialities compared with the real plot twists in the coming installments. It would be like calling the fact that R2-D2 and C-3PO escape the Tantive IV and reach Tatooine in an escape pod a spoiler. )

(There are also minor, trivial plot points from later episodes mentioned as well, so don't read those if you don't wants ta know.)

Some very good questions were asked, which I had to explain, and some good advice given. For instance, one fellow student, after asking why Tim wants the MacGuffin disk (minor spoiler: to sell to Gregory, as established in the ending), pointed out that both Tim and Jack want the same thing for the same reason, so why should we want Jack to "win" in the climax? Why does the reader have an emotional investment in Jack's victory? The instructor came to my defense on this point, explaining that in many stories, the hero and villain want the same thing, it's just a question of how they go about doing it. She then said that Tim would then have to be a really evil or sleazy character, and Jack had to be very virtuous in order to make the reader have a vented interest in one over the other.

The instructor's advice was to "raise the stakes". She asked me why Jack needed this job so badly, I explained that he didn't have much money and he couldn't afford continued maintenance on his ship. She countered that it needed to be more than that. His ship should be falling apart, barely flying. Also, she was pretty insistent that Jack should find out what's on the disk that's so important. (I tried to explain that I was trying to mimic the feel of Ronin, in which after 2 hours of searching for a silver case with unknown contents, the heroes get it, but never is the audience allowed to know what it contained; in that movie, the story is about the mercenaries themselves, not what they're after.) After explaining to her what's on the disk, (trivial Ep. III spoiler: research on efficient and inexpensive anti-matter creation, for the purposes of building an anti-matter bomb) she said that when Jack discovers this, he should then do the right thing and turn the disk in to the US Navy for a reward. Also, Tim should be planning to sell it to the "North Korea" analogue: the enemy, terrorist nation-state that would do heinous things if they got their hands on it.

One of the ladies in the class also seems pretty adamant that their should be some romantic element, and this was seconded by the instructor, either between Jack and Regina, or perhaps between Regina and Tim.

Now, all this seems very good advice, and would put Space Pirates more in the vein of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Serenity, or any of the other great SF/F tales, wherein you have a noble hero who is drawn (typically against his will) into battle against the ultimate foe, where he must do the right thing and keep the evil enemy from obtaining that item that would bring about an end of the world as we know it. Usually along the way, there is some romantic interest to either help or hinder the hero.

There's just one problem: that's not the story I want to write (at least, not to begin with). Jack is not the noble hero, Tim is not the evil villain. They're both just space pirates. They both just do a job. They're both jerks, in their own right. They both have good qualities, in their own ways. There really isn't one supreme reason why Jack should win out over Tim, and that's the way I want it.

Joss Whedon said of the creation of Firefly that he didn't want to tell some grandiose SF tale, about the movers and shakers of the universe: the people who save civilization as we know it, day in and day out, like in Star Trek. Instead, he said that he wanted to tell a tale about the people that the Enterprise would blow right by without a moment's notice: ordinary people doing ordinary things like finding a job to make ends meet, but in a SF setting.

(Author's disclaimer: to my credit, I came up with the entire plot and setting of all six SP novels before I ever saw any episode of Firefly, so no, I'm not just ripping off Joss. I prefer, coinciding with him.)

I don't think this could more perfectly describe my ideas for SPE1. Perhaps a better title would be "A Day in the Life of a Space Pirate" (or a month and a half, as the case may be). I just wanted to show what an average day was like in the life of average Joe Space Pirate. He gets a job. He does the job. He doesn't get paid. He has to go back and do it right. He meets a bully who's not particularly evil, just sort of a jerk. He has his own problems and his own vices. This is supposed to be real life, just in space.

Jack doesn't care what's on the disk, nor would he give it to the US Navy even if he did. They wouldn't pay as much as he can get from Gregory and they wouldn't offer him the steady employment he can get from Gregory. And even if the information on the disk was potentially harmful to someone, somewhere, why does he care? He's a space pirate! He's not paid enough to care.

But then, if Jack isn't that great of a guy, why does Dear Reader care if he wins or loses? Why would you be emotionally invested in seeing this guy come out the victor? Why do you care?

So my dilemma boils down to this: do I tell the story that the reader wants to read, or do I say to hell with the reader and write the story I want to write?

* * *

Perhaps my problem is that I told the tale to my class from Jack's point of view. He is the focal character of the six-book series, after all. But he's not the character that the audience is supposed to like the most. That distinction goes to Regina (who is my favorite character from the series). So perhaps we should tell the tale from her point of view. I think it makes it a little more palatable that way.

It also makes more sense this way. The Plot Point II decision is hers to make. Jack's decision is easy: steal the disk from Tim. I mean, come on, what else is he going to do? But Regina's the one who has to suffer the hard choice. Who does she side with in the end, Jack or Tim? Jack really isn't that different from Tim. They're both (same spoiler as the first one) working for the same guy; they're both jerks towards Regina; they both have redeeming qualities; they're both ambitious and willing to sell the other guy out to make a buck. Why root for Jack and not Tim? Of course, in the end, she chooses Jack because Tim is merely nice to her on the surface, while being a jerk underneath. Jack is a jerk on the surface, but always has her best interests at heart. My hope is that Dear Reader, associating with her, will agree with her decision and reasons, and thus be more endeared towards Jack, and root for him to be the victor. I hope.

But even then, it's still a weak emotional attachment. It's not the ultimate climax of good vs. evil, but the fight between a jerk with a heart of gold, and a jerk with the heart of a jerk. Why should the reader give it any more than a passing "meh"?

* * *

Again, in my defense, the story doesn't stay the same throughout all six episodes. Jack doesn't stay the same through all six episodes. Of course my classmates and my instructor are right. It would be a better story if the protagonist is the virtuous hero, battling the evil overlord. A morally ambiguous character really can't carry a series.

Since deep down, Jack is the virtuous guy, of course he does the right thing in the end. While the battle between him and Tim is ambiguous, the battle becomes more clearly defined as things go on. In later episodes, he comes against real moral struggles, and of course he does the right thing and fights for truth, justice, and all that jazz. It goes without saying.

Similarly, how could I possibly write a story where the hero is an author insertion, and the heroine is an analogue of the author's wife and not have a romantic element? Of course Episode II starts building romantic tension; it goes without saying!

But can I really use that excuse? "Yeah, the first couple books really are sorta ambiguous, and there's no real reason to root for the good guy, but trust me: it gets better. Just give me 800 pages and 15 hours of your life, and you'll get to the good parts." To quote John Gabriel, I didn't even know you could do that.

P.S. TVtropes are fun! Have fun with that link. You're welcome. No, you can't have those hours of your life back.

P.P.S. How many tropes can you find in Space Pirates? There's the obvious ones: Jack's the Lovable Rogue and The Captain, Regina the Mary Sue (or to be correct, the Canon Sue) and Gamer Chick. I haven't found the tropes for the others, but I'm sure they're there. Redemptrix (I hope) is a Cool Starship, and Regina's gleeful dispatching of Tim's mercenaries, I think, qualifies it as More Dakka. I think Tim's plan was a foiled Xanatos Gambit, and Jack's a successful one. And of course, the disk is a Grade-A, pastuerized, homoginized MacGuffin.

P.P.P.S. TVTropes on The Mary Sue:

She's exotically beautiful (a-yup, the only character to be described in detail), often having an unusual hair or eye color (Regina's blue eyes are mentioned several times), and has a similarly cool and exotic name (I think so). She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas (fantastic pilot, cook, engineer, singer, flutist....), and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws (only one that comes to mind is that Regina is an adrenaline junky) — or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story (a-yup; more on that later). The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues (check, check, check, and check), and are quick to adopt her into their nakama, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting (*cough* Zack *cough*); if anyone doesn't love her, the character who dislikes her will get an extremely unsympathetic portrayal. (*cough* Jack *cough*)

P.P.P.P.S. She scores a 93 on the Mary Sue Litmus test. "Irredeemable-Sue. You're going to have to start over, my friend. I know you want to keep writing, but no. Just no." The internet hates me :(