“This is also why the new novels die so quickly,
and why the old fairy tales endure for ever. The old fairy tale makes the hero
a normal human boy; it is his adventures that are startling; they startle him
because he is normal. But in the modern psychological novel the hero is
abnormal; the centre is not central. Hence the fiercest adventures fail to
affect him adequately, and the book is monotonous. You can make a story out of
a hero among dragons; but not out of a dragon among dragons. The fairy tale
discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of
to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world.” This is particularly relevant in the light of the approaching month of noveling. My National Novel Writing Month project is a fantasy novel this year. I have created a mad world and the next project is the characters. I'm going to try for a sane hero (a novelty for me) and his corresponding set of dragons.
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