Stories of Arda Home Page
About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search

Family Matters  by Lindelea 2 Review(s)
PSWReviewed Chapter: 2 on 4/25/2025
It really is just amazing how characters do their own thing - it is one of the most fascinating things about writing, IMO. (And since I don't outline anything out ahead of time, it's easy to just let them go and become who they were meant to be.) Definitely on my mind at the moment, as I just finished another short chapter and Haladan went off on a whole spin I had no idea was a thing! But I'm sure it was good to get it out of his system... ;-)

Author Reply: The writing process is so interesting to me. I have to outline a story before writing the draft. (Actually, all my stories start with a scene that pops up in my brain; if you're interested what the scene was in this story, I'll be happy to let you know when I post that particular chapter. I'll write the scene, then the first chapter, and then create a rough outline that will get me from "there" to "here", also thinking ahead from the scene to make sure I can arrive at an ending that feels satisfying to me. Whenever I've tried writing "by the seat of my pants", I've always written myself into a corner. I envy people who can just wing it.)

I just read the latest chapter you posted! Wonderful interaction between Haladan and Faramir, and a nice glimpse into Faramir's character.

Thanks!

PSWReviewed Chapter: 2 on 4/25/2025
So … I feel like a good hard look needs to be taken at the mental health of the Thain (and family) escort - I keep seeing indications of depression and a tendency to blame themselves when there was really nothing else they could do. (There was no arguing with Eglantine, she was a force of nature all on her own.) I hope that once he’s feeling better Tolly will realize that …

Author Reply: The escort, in general, really are in a no-win situation, which (unfortunately) reflects real-life circumstances I've seen. As far as making changes for the better, it can be difficult in a society built on tradition and taking pride in lack of change. I remember being so frustrated when I was younger and being told that things had to be "this way" because they had always been "this way". And then there were the situations where young, junior personnel were expected to endure terrible conditions and treatment just because the old-timers had lived through it!

There's a certain mindset where people blame themselves when things go wrong even when they're not to blame, but it's really a control thing. Taking responsibility makes them feel as if they have control (and maybe they'll be able to make things work "next time"), even though they actually cannot control the other people in their sphere. I don't remember what the official term for this thinking is, but it is associated with trauma and connected to depression and anxiety.

In many of my stories (depending on where they fall on the timeline), Pippin views the escort as impediments and spoil-sports rather than people just trying to do their job. He suffers from a certain amount of arrogance; look what he live through! He doesn't need a watchdog! People try to take him to task, but he's just too annoyed to hear them. And then, in StarFire, Isum (as a former head of escort) brings him up short with a simple statement. Though it takes a while for him to change his attitude, Isum plants a seed that continues to grow as the timeline continues.

Tolly, in particular, is prone to depression. When I first started writing him, he reminded me a lot of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. That was the first characteristic I "knew" about him. Soon after followed hints about his competence, steadiness, archery skill, and honesty. And more characteristics emerged every time he played a part in a story.

You mentioned in a recent review reply that Haladan didn't come out quite as you envisioned; isn't it fascinating how characters can take on a life of their own? I had already written about Tolly and Ferdi in numerous stories and had noticed that they seemed subject to depression, though I didn't set out to make them that way. While the job of an elite guard who is supposed to protect people who are difficult, demanding, and sometimes not cooperative must have a negative impact, in the cases of those two hobbits, in a later story, it worked out that they were overcome by the Black Breath when the Nazgûl were searching for Frodo in the Shire. Oddly enough, that encounter explained (in my mind, at least) their personality characteristics as I had been writing them! It's as if the creative impulse (what I call the Muse) knew them all along and fed me bits and pieces about them. The writing process (and the way the brain works, or doesn't) fascinates me. It's still a mystery to me how a minor detail in an early chapter, almost a throw-away thought, becomes a major plot device later in a story as I'm fleshing out the outline, and the connection (which never occurred to me before) suddenly becomes clear to me – and without prior planning.

I'm going on too long, it feels like, and I'm not sure if I'm making sense at this point, so I will end this reply and go seek out some protein to eat, or something like that.

Return to Chapter List