After suffering a few rough patches of reality at the beginning of this year I am finally back on the field with only a few minor abrasions and pulled muscles. I did not spend my time away in total lack of production, quite the opposite. The Blue Zone has grown by several chapters over the summer months and continues to pick up speed with the start of a new semster. Starting off the semester with the creation of Chapter Eleven I have begun what I believe is the most fun party of storytelling. I have laid out all the little pieces, hints and tidbits of mystery and now I am pulling the thread together, building the tension, drawing the villain out. Now that I have fully brought Julian into play, I find myself contemplating his character. Yes, Julian is evil, but I believe all evil has motivations.
Last semester I did a chapter called Felix Chapter, which has finally been woven into the story in chapter eleven, stripped down, changed and weaved in through Mina's point of view. With Julian's chapter I am doing the same sort of set up. I wanted to plot out the events that would create such a monster, so I wrote up this relativley short disturbing piece about his family and childhood. I will definitely add to it, and I plan on weaving it into the story as well within the next few chapters, but it served its purpose in helping me understand my own character better and part of where his motivation begins. The violent death of Julian's mother at the "hands" of his abusive father first leads Julian down a path of real darkness when his anger leads him to retaliate and murder his own father. Unlike everything else to this point, I also wrote this in first person. there is something about first person that allows you to sink even further into a characters psyche that third person doesn't satisfy.
Still even after completeing this tragic scene, I am not thoroughly satisfied with the extent of Julian's motivations. I think I may bulk up the influence of Aunt Ilsa and the drive to climb the social hierarchy that exists in Julian's family. I also used Julian's history to create a more sympathetic character for myself. No one starts off evil. Even a monster like Hitler was once a child, who loved and laughed just like everyone else. I also used this chapter to hash out a concept that had been bothering me, does a school of magic dictate a person's nature? No, magic is not good or evil, it is a person who is good or evil. However, I also wanted to shape more rules for magic in this world. Therefore I came up with the concept that Dark Magic is more physical, my strength oriented, while White Magic revolves around the mind and thought. These differences will play an important role in the next few chapters, esspecially concerning Capricia's behavior and odd actions in drugging Mina.
