Introducing the Mentor

Gideon · 11-06-2009, 10:05 PM

I'm doing Nanowrimo this year for the first time (and already terribly behind, work has been INSANE this week) but I'm trying to catch up and I'm running into a real brick wall.

So I've got these two young men... they're about to have their worlds all screwed up, fighting supernatural critters and the like, etc. I want them to have a mentor character (in fact, it's integral to the plot) but as much as supernatural fighting isn't normal, I'd like to keep the 'urban' in this urban fantasy as much as possible. I want to introduce the mentor as someone unknown but need a way to do it that doesn't seem too formulaic or convenient, but also position him so they can trust him rather quickly.

These guys are both in the last year or so of high school, living in the 'normal world,' and have just both been exposed to the fact that the world is very different than they ever imagined. The mentor is someone like them who has had one of their positions before, and can show them the basics, explain things, etc.

Any ideas? I'd try the WriMo forums but searching for 'mentor' is fruitless and it takes so long to get a response.

dreams · 11-06-2009, 11:08 PM

Quote:

These guys are both in the last year or so of high school, living in the 'normal world,' and have just both been exposed to the fact that the world is very different than they ever imagined. The mentor is someone like them who has had one of their positions before, and can show them the basics, explain things, etc.

Quote:

I want to introduce the mentor as someone unknown but need a way to do it that doesn't seem too formulaic or convenient, but also position him so they can trust him rather quickly.

Were the boys on a sports team at school? Maybe the mentor could be a high school boy that graduated a few years before them? Or if he was known to them, the mentor could be their coach?

Writing has so many problems to solve than just writing it..

Have fun and good luck...

Gideon · 11-07-2009, 12:05 AM

Well, I'm thinking the mentor is much older (60s, maybe?) but I really want to avoid the "mentor has secretly been the teacher secretly watching them" thing. And ideally, someone who isn't secured into the community already.

Thanks for the advice, though!

Filark · 11-07-2009, 12:45 AM

How bout an older woman they know about because she either starred in old B movies they watch or does voice-over on video games they play? I dunno--maybe try imagining/writing a conversation you want them to have with your mentor and see if the mentor comes clearer from that.

Good luck!!

mpd123 · 11-07-2009, 03:47 AM

hiya,

maybe someone who passes thru the communitylike a salesman or a solitary person who lives outside of town but that they maybe aware of, see him buying supplies etc.

wealthy patron to the school/colleage they attend or in the employ of such a person.

thats all i've got and i'm spent.

cheers,mick.

jaxx6166 · 11-07-2009, 10:13 PM

In The Phoenix Rising I used the mentor character. She was a crazy old homeless person with a bad heroin addiction. She was just kind of known to the community but ignored. Kind of like that fly on the wall

11-06-2009, 10:05 PM	#1
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Introducing the Mentor I'm doing Nanowrimo this year for the first time (and already terribly behind, work has been INSANE this week) but I'm trying to catch up and I'm running into a real brick wall. So I've got these two young men... they're about to have their worlds all screwed up, fighting supernatural critters and the like, etc. I want them to have a mentor character (in fact, it's integral to the plot) but as much as supernatural fighting isn't normal, I'd like to keep the 'urban' in this urban fantasy as much as possible. I want to introduce the mentor as someone unknown but need a way to do it that doesn't seem too formulaic or convenient, but also position him so they can trust him rather quickly. These guys are both in the last year or so of high school, living in the 'normal world,' and have just both been exposed to the fact that the world is very different than they ever imagined. The mentor is someone like them who has had one of their positions before, and can show them the basics, explain things, etc. Any ideas? I'd try the WriMo forums but searching for 'mentor' is fruitless and it takes so long to get a response.

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11-07-2009, 12:05 AM	#3
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Well, I'm thinking the mentor is much older (60s, maybe?) but I really want to avoid the "mentor has secretly been the teacher secretly watching them" thing. And ideally, someone who isn't secured into the community already. Thanks for the advice, though!

11-07-2009, 12:45 AM	#4
Filark Armed with a smile :) Posts: 1,421 Karma: 2463560 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: California, USA Device: enTourage eDGe & Pocket eDGe, Samsung Galaxy Note II	How bout an older woman they know about because she either starred in old B movies they watch or does voice-over on video games they play? I dunno--maybe try imagining/writing a conversation you want them to have with your mentor and see if the mentor comes clearer from that. Good luck!!

11-07-2009, 03:47 AM	#5
mpd123 Zealot Posts: 115 Karma: 8038 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: liverpool Device: kobo glo / samsung note 10.1	hiya, maybe someone who passes thru the communitylike a salesman or a solitary person who lives outside of town but that they maybe aware of, see him buying supplies etc. wealthy patron to the school/colleage they attend or in the employ of such a person. thats all i've got and i'm spent. cheers,mick.

11-07-2009, 10:13 PM	#6
jaxx6166 Wizard Posts: 1,222 Karma: 769316 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Eternal summer Device: 350, iPad, PW	In The Phoenix Rising I used the mentor character. She was a crazy old homeless person with a bad heroin addiction. She was just kind of known to the community but ignored. Kind of like that fly on the wall