My apologies if this gets a little wordy, but I feel like I need to explain my story before I ask my question. I am writing a series of short stories set in a fantasy world that somewhat resembles our 20th Century, but the hidden magic in the world is inspired by the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime. My main character grows up in a environment where violence and alcoholism is rampant. When the character is six years old, he runs away from home and takes refuge in a local zoo. Here, he meets a talking kangaroo and over time, they form a bond which I can only describe as being equivalent to a mother and son. Whenever there is chaos at home, the main character takes refuge with the kangaroo, who distracts him by telling him stories. In the background, there is a war going on between an aristocratic empire and a technology obssessed empire called the Technate. The Technate hates everything having to do with the supernatural and wants to eradicate it everywhere it resides. When the character is 15, the Technate invades the character's country with the intention of doing just that, but the character and the kangaroo are saved by this world's version of the Rainbow Serpent. The Serpent explains that in this world, every living thing has a soul. As a result, when an animal or human dies, they can be reincarnated. The Technate has weapons that can prevent that cycle from continuing. As a result, the Serpent gives the kangaroo and human a deal. She will protect them if they help save animals from the Technate's wrath. It is here where the character reveals that his upbringing has left him somewhat emotionally stunted. He cares about people he considers as family, but aside from that, he sees no personal stake in the larger world. He is only undertaking this mission because it helps someone he cares about, but he cannot bring himself to care about it for other, more selfless reasons such as the fact that if the Technate kills an animal, they won't reincarnate. In other words, he is selfish and apathetic. Other characters point out this flaw to him, but the main character doesn't know how to change for the better. He is still stuck in that childish mindset where he only does things that benefit him, since the kangaroo's been the only one who really cared about him when no one else wouldn't. There is also another reason why he wants to keep the kangaroo alive. Spoiler The kangaroo tells the main character that in a previous life, she committed a great sin and has made a deal with the Serpent in which if she lives a full natural life in the body of a kangaroo, the Serpent will allow her to reincarnate into a human and she can meet her family from her first life. The main character basically feels like he owes it to her for everything she's done for him What makes it worse for him is that two important things happen in the early stories. He becomes part of a team consisting of different animals. He finds it hard to connect with them on a personal level because he doesn't have the nine years of friendship that he has with the kangaroo. Also, the main character's birth mother runs into the kangaroo and they immediately butt heads because the human mother believes the kangaroo is trying to replace her as the character's mother. This arguing causes even more stress for the main character. So, how can my main character evolve from here? How can my character develop from being closed off and selfish to being more sensitive to the world around him. A couple of notes 1) My main character is white, so he doesn't have any experience with the magical world aside form being babysat by a kangaroo 2) For those worried that I'm using family violence and negligence as a mere background detail, I'm not. The impacts of that (distrust, self-loathing, etc) will play integral parts in the story. I'm just not certain if i'm tackling those aspects the best way I could. 3) Though the mention of reincarnation may imply it, this story is not a Chosen One narrative. My main character is just a normal teenager who is tossed into circumstances he doesn't understand. Though, the subject of reincarnation does play a important role in the story in more ways than one as I explained in the spoiler. 4) I am trying my best to avoid the 'death of a parental figure' cliche, because I feel like it is too predictable for the story to go that route. I would appreciate any advice.
Maybe you could make the birth mother someone with pro-Technate leanings and therefore belong to a group of citizens who supported the Technate invasion of her country?And she dislikes the kangaroo even more because her pro-Technate views hate the supernatural?
So far this seems like a linear character arc where someone develops from having only one friend, to functioning socially. Before looking at how to execute this, it might be useful to consider whether it's going to be as interesting as, or offer as many options as, the character starting off with a full social life from the outset. I'd suggest there's no point attempting the former if the execution of it is at all in question. The potential character conflicts I could see in the OP were:- boy vs. kangaroo (repaying maternal kindness) kangaroo vs. serpent (forming a deal) kangaroo vs. human mother (foster parent vs. birth parent) That's all I could find in terms of character-writing. The Technate here are a plot device rather than a character. It might be interesting to compare Dot and the Kangaroo: Dot learns social functioning (in the form of respect for the outback), while the Kangaroo learns to let go of her grief for her lost joey. But bear in mind: that's a children's cartoon from 40(?) years ago with nearly as much character conflict going on in it. A novel needs much more to sustain interest over a long wordcount: novels are marathons. he cannot bring himself to care about it for other, more selfless reasons such as the fact that if the Technate kills an animal, they won't reincarnate. I'd suggest probably nor can the reader. The animals will only matter at all to the reader if they can be established through character - so some options that present themselves are to add on more animals to the boy+kangaroo relationship so that the Technate's wider plans can start to matter to the reader, or to make the Technate an especially direct and personal threat to the boy+kangaroo relationship (effectively characterizing the Technate as an antagonist). On the first of these - the team of animals might be a start to it, but it would be a case of connecting them to the crisis somehow, or if you prefer: giving them a stake in the inciting incident. The points 1)-4) I think are likely to be secondary to the need for this story to be structured around satisfying character development. To ask "how can I develop this character" is the same as asking "what is my story?", and of course we don't know! The story is its character development. Tiptoeing around tropes that aren't fashionable is less important than making sure there are enough interesting character arcs - Chosen Ones are better than nothing.
That's actually a good idea. I'll see what I can do with it. I actually didn't know about Dot and the Kangaroo until I stumbled onto it while writing my own project. The similarities between my project and that are coincidental, but.. awkward. That's mostly because at least in my current plans, the Technate is portrayed as less than your traditional totaliterian government and more like a force of nature that is forcing these people together. It's not something to be fought, it's something to outrun and survive. The idea is that the main characters aren't people who would normally meet each other unless in the kangaroo's case, they were in a zoo. I had the same idea. Now that I am hearing someone else say it, I think some of my ideas just need better execution. Good point, but the Chosen One trope doesn't work with the story I'm trying to tell. I have ideas for where I want the story to go, but like you said, the main character's character development is what drives the story. I want to develop him in a natural manner that doesn't feel forced or cliched (looking at you, Rey from The Last Jedi).
In reply to the OP: To develop the MC from ambivalence to engaged about the greater good of the animals, you can create an event /urgency that puts the MC at some risk. Have some of the animals help him selflessly. As he forms a bond with them, the event you created can serve as a setting for the animal that saves him to share its life story, which can be similar to the MC. He can now "relate" to the animal/s in a better way than before. That has helped him mature and gain a broader life perspective than the narrow self that he started out with. Alternatively, create an event of high risk where the animals and MC are forced to work together or they all die/lose their soul/whatever the risk. Thru the very act of shoving them all in a difficult task where cooperation is the cornerstone of success, you can do amazing character building for all the characters, through which MC can start to realise, recognise, and acknowledge the world beyond himself. One more thought: The MC can travel to a different land/space/country, meet other characters, or a wise one, or face extenuating circumstances and come back with increased knowledge, maturity, awareness (think of what happens to people when they are well traveled and worldy). Any of the above will work if well executed, pick whichever fits best with your story. Good luck!
This sounds like a positive change arc. A flawed character gradually overcoming his flaws to become a better person. I suggest reading this: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/character-arcs-1/, including the series of articles it links to. Or you could start by watching this video: .
The emotional remoteness of your MC makes it difficult to induce a major change his personality in a plausible way. As you already mentioned the connections to his birth mother and the Kangaroo seem like obvious routes but a blatant cliché lurks around the corner. Your MC needs to be shaken in his foundations, I think. Maybe he has a strong connection to something other than animal or human - an object, a certain setting, a location...? You could use these things as trigger / motivation for change. As mentioned above you could also use a direct threat to his very own life and the help received in such a situation. Or a more philosophical approach: What is the "reason to live" of your MC? Place a threat on this reason and he may change.
There are two potential problems that seem to be getting in the way here. First the character's arc is to learn to care about others, the problem is he already does. Yes it's with the caveat that he has to have a personal connection first, but this can lead to hang ups where if he starts to care about someone other than the kangaroo, he can explain it away that he just got close enough to them that they are worthy of his compassion. It seems far more common for those with this type of arc to start out not caring about others at all. It is a lot easier to go from caring about no one to everyone, than it is to go from caring about someone to everyone. If that makes sense. The second problem is that while you want him to learn how to care selflessly, what does he want? At the moment it seems all he wants is to preserve the status quo, live in peace with his kangaroo mom. An understandable goal, but not the most engaging. And from the summary provided the MC seems at great risk for being a pretty passive lead. A lot of the conflict is thrust upon him and he doesn't seem all that engaged with it. Sure he wants to protect his friend, but he doesn't have much stake in this conflict. The Technate aren't coming for him, but for the kangaroo.
What is the intended audience? Is it aimed at adolescents (age range of the protag), or at an adult audience? You need to decide (if you don't already know). I don't know anything about the Aboriginal Dreamtime myths, but it sounds like a simple fairy tale, and if written in a simple way that's what it's going to come across as I think. Of course as you study fairy tales you come to realize there's more depth to them, and a darkness that's often been purged to Disnify them. I think if you have a depth of understanding of the kinds of things fairy tales and myths represent, and if you can get those realities into the story, you can make it engaging to adults. It wouldn't be easy, considering it's a story about a boy and a kangaroo. Incidentlly, how long do kangaroos live? The boy has spent what–9 years living with it, and it was an adult already. OK–quick check, looks like in the wild probably 15-2o years, so you should be OK on that count. You might want to look into the short stories by Angela Carter based on various fairy tales. She managed to wring some real life out of them and expand them to something that still feels fairy-tale-esque, but not for children. Here's the Look Inside for her book The Bloody Chamber, featuring several of her fairy-tale inspired stories. If you scroll down a bit you can read the beginning of the first one. She includes realities that are often swept away from fairy tales, some of the harsh realities of growing up. Be careful though, the danger of looking at such exquisite writing is you'll want to copy the prose style. You must use your own.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have an idea of what the cliche you're referring to is and I'm trying to avoid that cliche as best as I can. As for the character being shaken to his core, I have something in mind that could instigate that change. I can see your points and the passivity of the main character is intentional. He doesn't want to get too involved in this strange new world, even when characters are telling him he doesn't have much of a choice. My intention for the story is to aim for the young adult demographic, though I have been told that I shouldn't focus too much on the audience for my story since that's going to be the publishers job. Speaking as a white Australian, Dreamtime stories are very weird and strange. I don't know what standards people use to judge how much of a 'fairy tale' a product is, but the story I intend to write would not be the story you tell to your children. Thanks for the recommendation.
One more idea: You have this MC - Kangaroo - birth mother triangle. Raise the conflict between the two mothers to a higher level than unidirectional "jealousy". I don't know much about Dreamtime narrative but maybe the Dreamtime can intrude into the simple Technate-dominated world of the birth mother and give her a hard time, internal conflict. You could introduce something negative (from MC's point of view) about Dreamtime so that the MC gets unsure about his relation to the Kangaroo. Let the MC view his mothers conflict. Sure, he "lived away" from her but she is still his biological mother. Seeing her distress may bring him out of his indifference.
