Writing Origins - Ellerie

For those of you who are interested in the writing process, I wanted to take some time to discuss Ellerie.

I've mentioned before that the basic idea for The Eighth Warden came about sometime around 2012 (though it really wasn't much of a story then--just a concept), and that's also when I decided on the characters of Ellerie and Shavala. I think they're the only two characters designed for that version of the story who made it through the later rounds of changes mostly intact (though Treya, who'd existed well before that time, was repurposed from another story idea so she could be added to this one).

From the beginning, Ellerie was always going to be a princess, and a wizard who wielded a rapier, but I didn't actually come up with a real personality for her back in those early stages. When it came time to write her scenes, her personality just showed up out of nowhere, along with the backstory of how she got from where she was (her mother's palace) to where she is now (Matagor and beyond).

Although they're both elves, Ellerie and Shavala have very different mindsets. The silver elves have a culture that's closer to humans than to wood elves. Between that and the years that she lived in Matagor, Ellerie doesn't have any problem fitting in in the outside world.

However, she did grow up in a palace full of servants, and when she first left, she didn't always necessarily understand what was normal or realistic. I needed someone to keep her grounded, and so Boktar got introduced earlier than originally planned, and his role was greatly expanded. Also, he got turned from human to dwarf, because I thought that would be more fun (though he always had the big beard). The human version of Boktar had a two-handed axe, but axes are over-used for dwarves, so I gave him a warhammer and shield instead. From an RPG perspective, he's a tank, armed with a weapon specifically designed for taking out other tanks.

Ellerie didn't end up as spoiled as I'd expected her to be before I started writing her...from a reader's perspective, that's probably because she's been making a living on her own for over three years. From a writer's perspective, it's likely because she's already got a few other personality conflicts with the group (for good reason, from her point of view). If I added any other traits that caused conflict, she'd have been a difficult character to like. Right now, despite the conflicts, it's still easy to see things from her point of view--whether that's her reaction to being bonded against her will, or her realization that she's slowly being pushed out of the leadership position in her own quest.

She spent her life expected to become a leader, but it doesn't come quite as naturally to her as it does to, say, Corec, or maybe Treya someday. Ellerie is a scholar and an intellectual, as well as a member of a race that favors taking the long view. While she's still thinking through the ramifications of a particular response or plan, Corec's already lurched forward on gut instinct alone, and then Ellerie has to decide whether to agree with him or come off looking argumentative (women in corporate executive positions may recognize the feeling). The two of them are at risk of tearing the group apart if they don't figure out some way to work together.

--Ivy