Of Gags and Quantity
Running gags are something not every story needs, though I think they add a bit of flair to an otherwise serious story.
In my Orchestrylus Odyssey novels, there’s a reporter who’s constantly, if not cowardly, skulking about and following Stanzielle’s journey in the background. He wants so desperately to meet the Nocturne Violinist, but his fear of alucinized instruments keeps him at bay. Sparstrum is a generous man only trying to feed his family, but he often gets sent on the dangerous scoops.
When his next assignment for the Helix newspaper (helixes are holographic objects that display information) involves learning what Stanzielle Quintette is doing in Treblesong after an attack at sea makes waves around the sphere, Sparstrum jumps at the chance to record a story for the Helix. His wife needs medical treatments that cost thousands of tunes, meaning when he’s presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, he can’t say no.
Because he’s afraid of the alucinized instruments the symphonists wield, he lurks in the background, jotting down any information he can.
Of course, eventually, the party is going to wonder how their feats are being telegraphed for the Lisztian branch of the Helix to tell all.
I thought it would be a quirky gag to have Sparstrum the Reporter hide in some panels and in the prose of the novels, unbeknownst to the party.
Near the end of The Last Key of Maestraumus, he’ll find himself in a location only Stellatina’s wielder should be able to access, making his methods a mystery for the reader to follow mixed with a gag.
I wouldn’t quite say he’s a comic relief character, seeing as I want this story to be mostly serious, with some humor here and there.
Little breadcrumbs like this give the story some distance from the main journey, following the antics of side characters. But the side characters in this series have lives of their own, with wants, needs, desires, and dreams.
The main characters drive the plot, and while Stanzielle can be sassy and sarcastic, I think giving even side characters a bit of the spotlight in that light is the right approach.
Not every novel needs such a thing. Auminous had Xantheus Eizencroft’s fourth-wall-breaking censorship of the violence and awareness it’s a story, but that will not work in every tale you spin for the reader.
Too much and it gets old, too little, and it isn’t much of a gag.
As a writer, I’m grateful I get to experiment with my fiction in these ways.
As grateful as I am for walking, seeing as I’ve been limping along after breaking my toe last weekend.
It’s amazing how much we take for granted when we can’t do something we previously could with the same level of ability.
Which is why I feel expanding upon side characters and using gags enriches our storytelling, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted.
The Last Key of Maestraumus releases 02.18.2025, along with some unfamiliar faces, foes, and a deeper magic system.
I’ve spread some release dates throughout the year for my upcoming novels, with the next two Orchestrylus Odyssey novels coming out in the middle, and end of the year, respectively.
Releasing this many books a year seems odd to some, but if the prose is developed, refined, and edited to a higher standard, there shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve been working on my books for years now. Quality is my goal, but sometimes a writer has so much story to tell they have to get them out there.
Amanda M. Lee releases two books a month, at least, meaning I’m in good company in releasing more than one a year. Danielle Steel releases around seven a year. And the list goes on.
If quality is the focus, I don’t see why that can’t be done.
I like prose to be well-thought-out (not necessarily always in meter or fancy super purple prose) and that takes months of refinement. Multiple releases don’t mean writing unreadable drivel.
2025 looks to be the year for pushing myself and making things happen, God willing.
