Kernel of Insight: Wrath of...er...RISE of the Lich King

Just a quick update.  This week kicked my ass, so very little writing got done.  I was working almost perpetually through Thanksgiving on one thing or another and when not working, I was snatching what little sleep I could.  So, I'm trying to get back on the writing horse, so to speak, both for this and my video game blog.  We'll see how well that goes.  Regardless, I'm sticking with it.  Got almost ten pages revised for the next chapter, so I should still be able to deliver it sometime in December.  Fingers crossed.  Now, let's talk about some rather...unusual coincidences in regards to my work and certain other pieces of fiction.

Kernel of Insight: Wrath of...er...RISE of the Lich King

            True story:  For the longest time I was writing an anime esque mecha series, but I eventually stopped because when I took a step back I realized it had failed at a few fundamental levels, such as creating a grounded universe with rules, creating a mary sue-esque race of aliens to both fight and befriend, and generally just pulling things out of the ass for plot and dramatic convenience.  I really do like it and may one day revisit it, however it certainly had problems.  One of the more ironic problems was the alien race was strong, lanky, blue skinned aliens with black sclera and golden eyes.  Now, I started making this series years before the release of James Cameron's Avatar and I paid no attention to the media hype for it, so one of the first thoughts when I saw it in theaters was "Wow...if I ever release this story, people will totally think I ripped this off, even though I was making it well before."  I did keep up with the series for a while just because I loved it, but it was a weird coincidence.

            Know what wasn't a coincidence?  The first title of my series.  Before it became Chronicles of the Frozen Shade, it was Rise of the Lich king.  Ironically, at the time of naming this series at its inception I had indeed been playing Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne.  Just goes to show you...I had always intended for that name to be merely placeholder, but didn't get around to changing it until well into my 6th or 7th draft period.  There was meant to be this large subplot throughout the series where Aeon was the reincarnation, second coming, what have you, of a powerful figure who was both hated and admired known as the lich king.  There are still some fragments of this idea in my story, however I hate that idea of predestined heroes/villains.  So, alot of that was scrapped.  The lich king I was talking about does make some appearances, but it's less to do with Warcraft and more to do with just how people might view a powerful figure...Blizzard Entertainment just happened upon the title before a lot of us, though I imagine DnD have used it before too.  How do you make a lich more intimidating?  An elder lich, a greater lich, a lich...king?

            However, that being said, there really wasn't much I took from Blizzard or Warcraft when constructing this story.  Aeon's icy disposition actually comes a fair bit from me and my own experiences with emotional numbness and subduing foes alive, while still having the power and ethos to kill them if necessary.  But it was another ironic twist on how any one of us can have a decent idea for a story title or a story concept, which is ultimately just a re-use/reimagining of stories that have already been told.  I forget who said the line, but I believe a scholar/philosopher once said that we are all just retelling stories we've heard before, in a slightly different way.  And there's nothing really wrong with that.

            So, why the ultimate name change, aside from me not wanting to get my butt sued off?  Well...it was kinda misrepresentation.  No truth in advertising.  There is a rise of a lich king at some point, but it's not Aeon and it's not the general draw of the series or even really a main focal point.  So, after I decided upon Aeon's epithet, Frozen Shade, I changed the title to Chronicles of the Frozen Shade.  Still trying to figure out a decent subtitle for each individual book.

            Why the Chronicles?  Well, for a lot of reasons, actually.  I enjoy the idea that the one people would remember is Aeon for his infamy, but the one who sort of made the most change, who had a real influence, was Mina.  The idea of the unseen, the unknown hero.  I even toyed with the idea of framing it as a storybook, which I might one day revisit, but ultimately, I find those a tad spoilerific.  If you can make a good enough story, like Brian Jacques Martin the Warrior, then you can get away with that type of framing device, but...for what I'm writing, I don't want spoilers.

            Alongside the idea of a person in the shadow of another who truly influences the story, and Mina does and will, I enjoyed the idea that the series was an ongoing story.  A chronicle of the journey that doesn't have a simple one and done formula, but which persists.  Also fun to note is that for there to be chronicles, there needs to be a chronicler.  Make of that what you will.

            I ultimately created an uninspired title for this series because I wanted to get writing and didn't want to dwell on things like titles or subtitles.  Hence Rise of the Lich King.  In the process of my writing, I eventually changed the title because a good title or one that you like isn't one you can often just create on the spot.  It'll hit you when you least expect it and will stick with you because it has a nice ring to it.  Hence Chronicles of the Frozen Shade.  Even the etymology of it has a bit more interest and hook than Rise of the Lich King.  It is a chronicle, a story/record, of a creature called the Frozen Shade.  Frozen can mean icy, it can be dead, it can mean cruel, it can mean so many things.  Shade tends to mean an undead, but it can also refer to shadow creatures, wretches who are shells of their former self, etc.  It offers more interest in the title itself.

            And so, if you wanna make a fun, decent title, don't copy.  Think about what you want from the story and what others might take away from it...but above all else, don't force it.  Let it hit you, like I let mine hit me...with a mallet...over the head...which put me out for a week.

            Yeah, can you see why I stopped trying to be funny with this series?