A 2020-as �vet m�r a hivatalos lez�r�sa el�tt feledni igyekezve nagyon sokat gondolkodom az �r�sr�l mostan�ban, �s mint mindig, amikor r�j�v�k valamire, ez�ttal is megosztom veletek.

Megjegyz�sek:

(1) Az�rt van angolul, mert egy potenci�lis, tal�n-egyszer-majd-l�tez� angol nyelv� blogra �r�dott, mint cikk-kezdem�ny, amib�l egyszer majd, tal�n, rendes cikk lesz. (meg mert zsigerien rettegek, hogy elfelejtek angolul. Hogyisne rettegn�k basszus, ha otthon franci�ul besz�l�nk, az egyetemen meg finn�l?)

(2) Nyilv�nval�an megint a Sequestrum-sorozat van a k�z�ppontban...

(3) ...�s ehhez kapcsol�d�an: a k�zelm�ltban felt�rtam a t�rt�net r�gebbi verzi�it, �s er�s cringe-roham t�rt r�m. Sok r�sz�n megl�tszik, hogy valahol iszony�an gyerek voltam m�g, amikor �rtam �ket. Sz�val ha teljesen v�letlen�l j�r erre b�rki nem-Baggins, aki olvasta r�gen a Lucy-novell�kat, a Death Dance-et vagy b�rmi ilyesmit, neki �zenem, hogy a mostani verzi�nak SEMMI K�ZE AZOKHOZ A F�RMEDV�NYEKHEZ. �gy �rtem, valahol m�g mindig szeretem �ket, de azt k�v�nom, b�r sosem adtam volna ki �ket a kezeim k�z�l, kb senkinek, mert ha valaki r�g�ta k�vet engem, el�g er�s negat�v b�lyeget nyomhatnak a folytat�sra. �szint�n, egy icipicit �gy �rzem, m�g a 'Gadding with Ghouls' is ebbe a kateg�ri�ba tartozik, b�r ott az�rt n�h�ny dolog m�r rendben van.

A tov�bbiakban pedig egy kis �r�selm�let, amire am�gy abszol�t nem vagyok kvalifik�lt, but when has that ever stopped me before?

Fanfic vs. Novel: A Match Made in Hell

A few main points:

Fanfic writing is easy, because...

...mainly, you have the skeleton of the whole thing before you'd even lift the pen. You have a potential audience: you can appeal to people who have read - and liked, or loved to hate - the original story, and who are interested in fanfiction. You have plot points, characters, locations, a world that has been pre-built for you, like a sandbox to play in. The size and depth of this sandbox, of course, varies. Sometimes the sand is warm and soothing, sometimes sticky and wet, sometimes frighteningly deep, and sometimes it's course and rough and it gets everywhere.

(Sorry.)

But then, fanfic writing can also be daunting for the exact same reasons, particularly if you're writing a novel - and especially, if you decide to stick to the boundaries set by canon. Which I mostly do, for (1) the very altruistic reason to show my appreciation for the author and their work and (2) the very egoistic reason to "validate" my work: to entertain the thought that it might be conform with the original story, it just got lost between the pages.

As a result: when as a canon stickler, I try to beat a novel out of a fanfic, I am faced with the following status quo:

• Potential readers already know where my story is going
• Canon characters have plot armor (or a red plot X right across the chest)
• Severe plot limitations
• Story arc potentially killed by canon (how do you build tension when the outcome is already known?)

...and you've got to admit that the above situation is apocaliptically terrible for writing a novel. Novels are all about narration and control: you, the writer should decide what clues you give your readers, what do you allow them to know. You should be the master of puppets, moving all the strings.

I kept this issue under control while I was writing Vault Seven-Eleven: it very conveniently fits into two plot holes (what happened to Remus before he arrived at Hogwarts/how did Sirius get the Firebolt delivered to Harry) plus an uncharted area (how does Gringotts function and what is the relationship between the Ministry and the bank). Clues were easy to hide and the plot wasn't very trying, either: all I needed to do was establish Lucy as a character, then her friendship with Remus and her hugely one-sided affair with Bill Weasley, in order to get her out of her shell and force her to rethink some life choices. The result is mostly... okay, I guess. If you've made it through Seven-Eleven, you must have come to like Lucy, at least a little bit (either that, or you love to hate her), and you must be curious what exactly is this Sequestrum thing and why Dumbledore wants the key to it so desperately. If you read chapters 13 to 15 (Fog & Memories; The Drawback; Ire and Infidelity) very carefully, you might even have figured out that he's looking for a potential horcrux.

When I started finalising the opening chapters to The Boardman Incident, however, I suddenly saw the pit I was sitting in. Not only did I have to work with the canon-based restrictions listed above, but I had also put further weight on myself by the following plot points:

• Major character #1 (Lucy) has turned a page in her life and gives ZERO shit about her previous one.
• Major character #2 (Sirius) searches for clues that were explained a gazillion times to anyone who has read/seen Goblet of Fire
• Major character #3 (Tonks) wants to unveil two mysteries: one that is resolved in 'Goblet' and another one that has been explicitly explained at the end of 'Seven-Eleven'.

Well, it didn't look very peachy to me. Which is why I decided to embrace this situation, to work with it - so what we have at the first half of 'The Boardman Incident' is, basically, an inverse narrative frame. Instead of giving away new information, I took everything that was already known to the characters and the readers of the Harry Potter series, and rationed it among the characters in the form of clues. Readers know that Doris Purkiss' real name is Lucy Dawlish, and readers know who she was to Tonks or Bill. Readers know a huge part of what happened at Gringotts. Readers know what happened to Bertha Jorkins... but the characters don't. Instead of being left in the dark, readers feel like using Windows in god mode. They think they know everything. They can root for the characters.

And it is working.

I still don't get many reviews, but decidedly more than before, and these reviews tell me, that the story keeps the rare reader on their toes. That they don't know what's gonna happen in the next chapter... which is not actually true. It is an illusion I have very consciously created, and frankly, I didn't think it would actually work this well. Hell, if you think about it, you know all essential information and clues... you just don't know how the characters will react to it. And this, I think, makes you root for the characters. You want them to succeed, you want them to find out the truth. You feel like an omniscient narrator yourself.

But here comes the key thing: you can't write an entire novel like this. There is no climax in god mode - you would see it coming. At some point, I will have to reverse the narrative, and take control again as the writer. And the next key thing: in order for it to REALLY work, I can't do this in an instant. It would be too great of a switch. What I need is a transitional period, in which readers still know substantially more than the characters, but there are deeply unsettling things happening around them. These unsettling things, without exception, are foundations for future motivations. How do these characters all end up in the Order of the Phoenix? Why is the guarding of the prophecy becoming the Order's priority? Will Pyrites's curse break? Will Lucy ever meet her dad and her friends again? Who will retrieve the key and why did Sanguini want it?

The transitional period I'm talking about will start with Chapter Sixteen of The Boardman Incident. The next one.

I will tell you if my great evil plan succeeded or failed when this second part of the story is done.