Comments on: Manuscript Killers: Part-Time Dragons

By: Nahshon

Nahshon — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:54:25 +0000

hi i am a first time novelist and have found ur site to be very useful!! already i am taking notes and writing down editing tips to look for in my book. for this concept of morphing to and from different species what about a human that is brought back to life by the blood of an angel. this makes him “a hybrid. then his ‘dies’ but because of his immortal blood it is more like a phoenix death. u die and come back even stronger. the second time he dies he gains a full angel form.

so now he can go between human and angel. the only thing about his character that i am worried about is over time i want him to slowly shed his ‘human nature’ and become more angelic u could say. is this a good concept and i haven’t even added that he was affected by a mutating virus. so NOW this character is like a three in one combo. but only thing is that he has a full angel form and his regular hybrid from…..my quesiton is his character clear or two cluttered?

By: Merides

Merides — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:10:09 +0000

Good. I was a bit worried there for the moment. She’s not the only one with an animal type mutation, but she /is/ the only one with a reptilian mutation. Another becomes very similar to Spiderman’s Rhino, (only she’s a girl LOL) and there’s another bird-type… mostly, though, it’s elemental or technological mutations.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:16:00 +0000

I think it would probably be workable, Merides. The concept is fairly similar to what Beast went through in X-Men (although Beast’s change was sudden rather than gradual).

By: Merides

Merides — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:08:02 +0000

Hmm… made me pause for a moment, with my FMC, Lerin. I’m writing a mutation-style story, caused by genetic weaponry misfiring. As the story progresses, the mutations become more and more advanced, eventually proving potentially fatal. Lerin receives scales, and later on, wings, and if I continue the story, she’d fully transform… but there’s no going back to the human form. Hence the sub-plot of my story, the search for the cure to the mutations. Too cliche?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:54:26 +0000

Yes, it is well-known that reptiles are very proud of their tails…

By: NewAgeZombi

NewAgeZombi — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:41:45 +0000

The answer to the no limbs thing is moderatly simple: prehensile tail. But this is getting a bit off topic.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:06:43 +0000

I think this problem applies more to non-humans that can shapeshift into a human form than human shapeshifters (like Beast Boy). The main problem is when the author can’t decide whether the character is a human or not–like a dragon that can become a fully-functioning, completely-coordinated human whenever convenient. It’s not dramatic.

I don’t think that your character suffers from PTD problems, partially because he’s a human shapeshifter. And partially because there are some drawbacks to being a snake. (That is probably my understatement of the year… ahem, no limbs!)

By: NewAgeZombi

NewAgeZombi — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:41:49 +0000

Ah, I see the difference. I’m still thinking about cutting out the ethereal bit, though.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:10:09 +0000

HTML. For example, italics is lessthansignIgreaterthansign.

By: Lighting Man

Lighting Man — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 01:33:55 +0000

NewAgeZombi, I don’t think Part-Time Dragons is a trope that applies to characters like that, I think the problem with PTDs is primarily that the author is saying “My character is as awesome as a dragon but I don’t actually want to have to bother with writing a primary character that is a not a human, so he’s both an awesome human and an awesome dragon.” Unlike your character, in which it is a power that has various built-in weaknesses and presumably requires your character to learn how to use it effectively.

By: NewAgeZombi

NewAgeZombi — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:34:31 +0000

Whoops. I guess BBcode doesn’t work here. What kind should I use?

By: NewAgeZombi

NewAgeZombi — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:33:38 +0000

Would this mean that this one concept for a hero I have is bad? The concept involves human (well, not quite human, but beside the point) to snake transformations. There IS a time limit, but the snake form can be either ethereal or corporeal. I was already thinking he might be a tad bit overpowered and this article is anchoring my doubts about using him.

By: C. S. Marlowe

C. S. Marlowe — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:52:49 +0000

… Hmm.
(frowns)
Are they *really* that bad?
A little half idea for a novel’s been hopping around in my head for the past couple of days. It’s a long story, but a woman is working for this magical/demon/angel guy (yeah, it really is a half idea) and he gives her the ability to change into a bird so that if he needs her to do something speedily, she can. It’s mostly for travel purposes, so she’s only a very small bird. Should I be seriously worried? Consider an alternative?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:08:52 +0000

Some observations, Shell.
–I think that the transformation element would work more smoothly for a single part-time giant than a group of part-time giants, or at least a small band of PTGs among a town that is comprised of mostly other kinds of people. Otherwise I think the main characters won’t really stick out all that much, and everyone will be too forgiving of problems that arise from whatever awkward situations may come. For example, secrecy is an element that plays in a lot of stories where the hero can transform himself at will… eg Jake Long can turn into a dragon at will, but he can’t let any humans see him as a dragon. I think Danny Phantom has a similar setup. In contrast, if everyone in town is a PTG, then there’s no social limitation on the ability to transform.

–”There are plenty of great and deep issues to play with here…” Which are you leaning towards? I don’t feel like the regular vs. giant transformation will feel very substantive because the character’s personality and role don’t seem to change very much. In contrast, other transformations (Jekyll and Hyde, Hulk and Banner, Jake and dragon Jake, etc.) tend to involve a change of personality and/or role.

–Pride, maybe? If the giant aspect is their natural aspect, then maybe they’d look down on being human-sized. This is a kind of flimsy limitation, but it’s a start.

–You could try something like a hard time-limit on the transformation power as a last resort, but I don’t think it matters. Why is it important to keep the characters out of human form rather than giant form? Should giant form feel more natural to them? Is it possible to just make them full-time giants and eliminate the transformation element?

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:41:06 +0000

Shell, I have a bit of advice for you.

It helps the story if the character has less control over when they change. In D.N.Angel, Daisuke has less control in the beginning, having to avoid Risa (the girl he has a crush on) to avoid transforming into Dark. There’s one incident in the manga where he has to run away from her as he begins to transform in the school hallway. (Awkward! Haha.)

Using D.N.Angel for another example, Dark and Daisuke are not the same person. They exist in the same body but they switch every time one of them thinks about their crush excessively. Dark is a bit of a flirt but Daisuke is easily embarrassed. This distinguishes them and also shows a bit of a struggle when one of them is in control. When Dark isn’t stealing cursed artworks and avoiding the police, he’s flirting with every girl he sees. When Daisuke isn’t doing homework, he’s pining over Risa. So perhaps your giants could have different personalities when they’ve gone from one size to another?

You could also make it so they change slowly. If it took ten minutes to become a huge giant it would take the same amount of time to shrink, and maybe some parts shrink slower than others. (“Jack, is it just me or are your arms a little longer today?”)

I hope I’ve helped!