Big Writing Changes, Big Risks- A Profit Motives Post
Weaseled Bruce to talk about the risks involved with major character changes in series. Not to give anything away, but we asked in reference to his latest book at the time of publishing, Profit Motives.
Spoiler Alert!
Profit Motives, the third full-length novel in the Profit Logbook series, was a long time in coming. I put it aside, half finished, for at least two years. This was partly because another project captured my interest, and partly because I was stuck. I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer. I don’t usually outline or plot out my books before I start but that means sometimes you write yourself into a corner, or lose the thread of the story. Such was the case with Profit Motives.
In the meantime, I wrote most of the Magic Law series and, most important to the story in question, a short story focused on Deuce Gulbrandsen, Zack’s second in command and the ship’s engineer. Deuce was always the silent type, better with a pulse rifle or his fists than with his words. I wrote the story for a writing competition, but also as a way to explore Deuce’s character in a bit more detail. It was then that it hit me. Part of the reason that Profit Motives had stalled was that I hadn’t fleshed out the relationship between Deuce and Grace Tyler. And because I knew at some level that if that relationship was real, Deuce was going to have to choose between Grace and the ship. I think I knew even at that early stage that Deuce would choose Grace and leave the ship.
Replacing or eliminating a main character in a novel, and especially in a series, is difficult. First because you have come to know and love the character, but also because it should be believable and inevitable or it will appear arbitrary and capricious. George Martin is somewhat famous for this, and often it is done in a completely arbitrary fashion. In military fiction, there is a randomness in battle that lends itself to this. Harper’s death in Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels falls into this category – sudden, unexpected and jarring. But the other characters’ reactions to it justify the loss.
The second risk is the reader’s reaction. An arbitrary and capricious death may enrage fans and lose them forever. Ideally, the loss of a character whether to death or a separation from the main character should be seen as inevitable and if not proper, at least believable. Better yet, when the author introduces a replacement who is also a strong but different character, it can reinvigorate the whole series.
I hope that is what has happened in Profit Motives. I knew early on that Deuce would choose Grace and leave the Profit, but tried in the character of Goon to provide a different, strong and interesting character to replace him on the crew. I think I have succeeded.
Profit Motives is available now from Brick Cave Media. You can order is direct, or via Amazon, Bookshop.org or any independent bookseller. Available in paperback and eBook formats.
